City Council - Regular Meeting

We have to roll call. I'll do separately.

Good evening. I am calling this meeting to order. It is 7.02, and this is a meeting for the Public Financing Authority and the City Council meeting for today, June 24th, 2026. We will start with roll call, please.

This is for the Finance Authority, Mr. Secretary.

Yes. Member Alonzo? Absent. Vice Chairperson Romero? Present. Member Peralta?

Present.

Member Melendez? Here. Chairperson Tamayo?

Here. And then we move on to roll call for the City Council, please.

Councilmember Alonso? Absent. Mayor Patan Romero? Council Member Peralta.

Present.

Council Member Melendez. Here. Mayor Tamayo.

Here. Okay, so we did not have closed session, so there's nothing to report on that. We will move on to... I would like to... Well, let's do the invocation and the pledge.

You can do that. If you want to just clear out the business real quick on the... Are we going to have a presentation on the finance authority?

No. Okay. What we can do is... On the finance authority, yeah. On the finance authority, yes.

Okay. So then, Madam Mayor, you can do the Pledge of Allegiance and the invocation. Then I know there's some items we want to take care of early on.

Yes, and then we'll proceed with business. But let's do that first. Let's start with the invocation. Mr. City Clerk?

Let us bow our heads. As we gather here today, we pray that we are ever mindful of 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 on those things upon which future generations can build with confidence. Let us continue to strive to make a better world. We ask this in thy name. Amen.

and for our Pledge of Allegiance. So I'm gonna talk a little bit about our future leader of Montebello, and then I'm gonna have her come up. So we're gonna continue with our program of future leaders of Montebello. Today, we have Isabella Rosario Reynoso. Isabella is a third grader at La Merced Academy who exemplifies academic excellence, resilience, and strong character. She recently achieved an advanced above proficient score on the SBAC assessment, exceeding school and statewide averages. Through her passion for learning and service, Isabella inspires others to become engaged and responsible members of their communities. Her future aspirations include becoming an astrophysiologist, a physician, and a NASA engineer. Wow. And she recently showcased her appreciation for local history through a project highlighting the Juan Matias Sanchez adobe, a Montebello landmark. The mayor and the city council command her for her leadership, dedication, and community involvement. And we invite her up to do the Pledge of Allegiance. Isabella, if you want to join us.

You got it? Three. Good afternoon, everybody. Please place your hand over your heart. 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. Gracias.

Yeah, come on up.

Let me just make sure she gets her. And let me, hold on, let me move all this stuff out.

Does it still come out? Okay, great.

Yes, round of applause for our future leaders.

Thank you so much for coming out. Do you want to come up for a picture? Yeah, if you want to come up, I'll leave for a picture. No, it's OK. OK, thank you. Thank you for holding up the proceedings. Oh, no. Hello. Thank you for coming out. Yes. No, this is very special. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Do you want it with your camera?

Yeah, that'd be great. That'd be great. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Great job.

Okay, moving on. Actually, I would like to move to our public finance authority items.

Or the regular agenda.

You've asked me whether or not items number three and four on the public hearing agenda for the city council to be moved forward at this time. Yes.

The answer is yes, if the chair wishes to do so. And there's no objection from the city council. So is that your desire, Madam Mayor? Yes. Okay. So at this time, then, we will move forward to the City Council agenda, only items three and four, which is the adoption of resolution 26-39, confirming the fiscal year 2026-27 Engineer's Report for the Annual Natasha Lane Landscape Assessment District, number 2005-1, and levering such assessments. And item four, adopt resolution number 20-40, confirming the engineer's report and assessment for the Natasha Lane Sewer and Storm Water Pump Station Assessment District for 2005-2 and living assessments on accessible lots and parcels of land in said district. It would be appropriate, Madam Mayor, then we can combine those two public hearings, hold them as one because they relate to the same item. And at this time, you can open the public hearing. I believe there are speaker cards. Mr. City Manager, if you wish to have a presentation, just move right into public comment.

No presentation on these items. We're happy to answer any questions, though. Okay.

And this matter comes to the council every year, so it's fairly routine.

So I'd just like to note that the hearing is open at 7-12.

Do we have speaker cards on this item? No.

Yes, I can call. We have two spirit cards for number three and number four. Great. We can call them up.

If you can, yes, please call them up.

Our first speaker is Raymond Perez.

Good afternoon. I'm Raymond Perez.

I do live on Montelchia Lane in Montelchia. I did want to express my concern that the, I understand that there was 67,000 of maintenance employees I understand that there were $67,000 of maintenance and repairs that were required and I'm okay with that. I'm just a little worried that as it is now, our property taxes that are over 13,000 a year, and then you're adding another 3,200 for this year. And I think that puts a big strain on the people that live on that block. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I think that that puts a big strain on people's budgets, and one of the things I was concerned about is it indicates on the notice that the assessments will continue annually until terminated, which, That concerns me because the estimate is for 67,000, which appears to be a one-time expense. But for some reason, the notice indicates that this assessment of 3,200 for each of the 20 homeowners Even though that in one lump sum covers the 67,000, why would the assessment of 3,200 continue annually? Does that mean that the 67,000 is going to be incurred by the city every single year? I thought this was a one-time expense. So that's a big concern of mine. why I would object to this assessment being put out in that manner. If it's a one-time assessment, even that should be .

Thank you for your comment. We have one more speaker.

So, Raymond Breas also had a speaker card for agenda item four, and I know we are combining both of these, so would we like to call him back to finish? For item four?

Actually, public hearing was combined, so it's only one. Oh, one for three and four?

Sir, I'm sorry, yes, we'll incorporate the same comments that you made into items three and four.

So, yes, anyone who's speaking tonight is going to be addressing items three and four at the same time.

Three and four. Okay, understood. And our next speaker is Oscar Ramirez.

I'm Oscar Ramirez. I live in the Pasha block also as well. I oppose this because we're very stricken by just to, you know, as a family.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT.

MAYOR, THAT'S ALL THE SPEAKER CARDS WE HAVE FOR THESE BOTH ITEMS. IT'S APPROPRIATE NOW TO ASK THE AUDIENCE IF ANYONE ELSE WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM.

ANY OTHER SPEAKERS ON THIS HERE? YES.

Good evening, council.

One of the things I would like to say, the city's been actually funding this since Natasha Lane has been open. So this has been on the budget and the backs of the rest of the taxpayers just for one street. So this isn't something new that's coming in. It's been $63,000 that the gentleman was talking about. However, the city as a whole has been recording it just for this one street. I could understand their concern, but also that $67,000, you know, we've been covering it on taxpayers where it can go to other projects. This has been brought up by previous council where they were trying to get this fixed. However, something's always fell through on it. So I'm thankful that you guys are looking at this because $60,000 a year, $100,000 there adds up and we can actually probably put it to parts and other things that are needed as well.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Okay.

So any other speakers? Okay. But that will close the public hearing at 7.17.

And Madam Mayor brings it to the council level and there are some technical issues we have to address. There has been no additional ballots turned in from seven o'clock on.

All ballots that have been turned in have been submitted to the city clerk's office previously.

And there are 20 property owners or parcels that are in effect in this assessment district. If we can ask from the city clerk's office, how many ballots been cast in opposition?

We received a total of 10 ballots in opposition.

And in support?

One ballot.

Now, under the assessment laws in California, in order to have a majority of property owners express their opposition, it would require, in this case, 11 ballots in opposition. We have only 10 ballots in opposition. SO, MADAM MAYOR, THE COUNCIL DOES HAVE THE AUTHORITY AND THE ABILITY, IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO SO, TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTIONS THAT ARE BEFORE YOU ON ITEMS THREE AND ITEMS FOUR FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

I NEED TO FURTHER CLARIFY THE RESOLUTIONS.

Yeah, we want to provide guidance because in anticipation of the public hearing, depending on the vote outcome, we proposed two resolutions and we want to make sure that we recommend the proper one. But just for the benefit of the community, as was mentioned by Reson, this is an annual assessment that we've been doing. IT'S A VERY UNIQUE ASSESSMENT, HAVING 20 PARCELS THAT WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR SEWER AND LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE. AND SO JUST FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY, WE DID GO THROUGH A PROP 218 FORMAL VOTING PROCESS. THAT'S WHAT THE CITY ATTORNEY IS REFERRING TO. AND AT THIS POINT, THAT HAS BEEN CONCLUDED. WE WENT TO NOTICING THEY DIDN'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO FORMALLY OPPOSE THE NEW ASSESSED FEES THAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING as a city. So now we present it back to the council for consideration. Now, Michael, just so we're clear, and I recommend city attorney that we do take the two separate items separately because one pertains to landscaping, one pertains to landscaping, the other one pertains to the pump state, the sewer maintenance. So let's first consider item number three first, okay? Okay.

Yes. Mr. City Attorney, can you read out the item so we make sure we get it correct?

So item three is consideration by the City Council to adopt resolution number 26-39, and this relates to the fiscal year 2026-27, Engineer's Report for the Natasha Lane Landscape Assessment District, number 2005-1, and to levy such assessments. It would be appropriate for the City Council to entertain a motion to adopt this resolution 26-39.

Yes, before we go for the vote, Council Member Melendez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, City Manager, for the explanation, and for the speakers that came out, and also for the residents on Natasha Lane that also spoke on this item. This is a district that I represent, and this is something that, since I've been in council, we've been kind of pushing every year, and IT'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE DISCUSSED THIS EARLY ON, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDED THE PATHWAY THAT WOULD BE THE LEAST IMPACTFUL FOR THE RESIDENTS IN THAT AREA, BUT ALSO BEING you know, being cognizant of, you know, other taxpayers of the, you know, the whole city actually subsidizing this. So I do want to acknowledge the concerns that have been raised, but also it's a decision that we can't just continue to keep pushing every year because it's going to continue to create a burden on the rest of the taxpayers and residents. So I just do want to acknowledge that. And when we did discuss this, we had some tough conversations, but we did want to provide the pathway that would be the least impactful in people's pockets. So yeah, just do want to acknowledge that.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Okay.

Do you want to ask Council Member, the Mayor Pro Temp, just to be fair to her, forget that she's on the line.

Yeah, that's true. Mayor Pro Temp, do you have any questions or comments on this item?

No questions or comments at this time. Great.

Okay. We can call for a vote, please.

Item number three. We need a motion.

A motion and a second.

I'll motion to approve.

I'll second.

So motion by Council Member Peralta and a second by Council Member Melendez and now we can call for a vote.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Do you want to repeat?

Say that again please.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

I vote aye.

Moving on to item number four is a separate and distinct resolution. This is resolution number 26-40, confirming the engineer's report and assessment for the Natasha Lane sewer and stormwater pump station assessment district number 2005-2. and living assessments on accessible lots and parcels of land in said district for the fiscal year 2026, 2027. And it would be appropriate for the city council to consider number one, that there's no majority of protests that existed and for the council to entertain a motion to adopt the ordinance, I'm sorry, adopt the resolution.

And as you consider a motion, Mike, we just want to clarify which resolution they would be, we're recommending approval.

That is correct. Yeah.

That is correct. Which one? Isn't there two options?

Yeah, so it's attachment A. So they're both numbered 2640, but this is attachment A, which confirms no majority of protests was received and the assessment included in the engineer's report is what's being adopted.

Okay, great. Got it. Yep, that's what I wanted to make sure that that was clear.

Okay, any comments on this item?

Motion to approve.

I'll second.

So motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Council Member Melendez, if we can call for a vote.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta. Aye. Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo. Aye.

Okay, thank you. That takes care of the two items.

That takes care of items three and four, Madam Mayor. We go back to the City Council agenda, earlier agenda, which is the ceremonial presentation.

Yes. So we'll move to that. So right now we will have the Oath of Office for Kalina Fierro, the Youth Commissioner for District 1. Come on up, Kalina.

Please repeat after me. I, state your name.

I, Kalina Fierro.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That we'll support and defend.

That we'll support and defend.

The Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of California.

And the Constitution of the State of California.

Against all enemies.

Against all enemies.

Foreign and domestic.

Foreign and domestic.

That I will bear true faith.

That I'll bear true faith.

In allegiance.

In allegiance.

To the Constitution of the United States.

To the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of California. That I take this obligation freely.

without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge to duties upon which I am about to enter.

Congratulations.

I think the mayor's coming over to, don't leave yet.

Okay, great. We will move on to item number two, which is SURE High School Transit Club Presentation and Scholarship Awards. So we'll start with the presentations.

JOHN, JOHN, DO YOU WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION AND THE STUDENTS, HOW WE GOT HERE? IT'S A REALLY GREAT STORY.

Yeah, actually, thank you, Mr. City Manager. Yeah, it's really an honor for us this evening to have this group of young men. So we were, this is the Scher High School Transit Club. So they're all recent graduates of Scher High School. And this is their, what they're gonna be presenting today to us is MUSD award-winning senior project that they put together all on their own volition right so they brought this together it's it's their Montebello bus line wayfinding and signage project so they recently presented this project to us at Montebello bus lines which was at a perfect time because we're actually navigating a project called the bus improvement project and so as we are looking at incorporating a few of their ideas into this project as we move forward into the RFP process. So they came at a very opportune moment for us. So we were able to have them. So we wanted to also bring them forward this afternoon so they can also present this project to the community and to our city council so they can see and recognize the hard work of these young gentlemen who will all be continuing their pursuit of higher education in the fall.

So we'll move on to the presentation, please.

There you go.

Is it working now? Yes. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much, Director Soria. Good evening, City of Montebello, honorable council, directors and staff. We are here to present the Montebello Bus Lines Wayfinding Signage Project. Before we begin, if we may introduce myself, I will start first. My name is Mason Louie, and I've been a resident of Montebello.

GOOD EVENING, I'M DUAN LAM AND I'M A GRADUATE OF SURE HIGH SCHOOL. I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE.

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS. I'M JACOB ADIA AND I'M A RECENT GRADUATE OF SURE HIGH SCHOOL. HAPPY TO BE HERE.

GOOD EVENING, I'M TENYO PERMUDEZ AND I ALSO GRADUATE OF SURE.

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS. I AM ZANDER AND I'M A GRADUATE OF SURE HIGH SCHOOL.

All right, let's see again.

I think it turned on.

So just to introduce a bit about our club, we are from the Scher High School Transit Club, which was founded this past school year. Our mission is to introduce, familiarize, and raise awareness of public transportation to the people of Scher High School. We are part of a large organization called the California High School Transit Alliance. The California High School Transit Alliance brings together clubs and student organizations across the state of California to help make public transit and mobility better. It is comprised of 12 transit clubs all across the state. And our neighbors here in LA are Alhambra High School and Marquepo High School. So the goal of the Montebello Bus Lines Wayfinding Signage Project is to equip bus stops with signs including basic bus route information and providing improving navigation around the MBL routes. So what you see on the slide is kind of our general timeline of our project. This was conceptualized in June of last year, so it's been exactly a year since we started. So in September, we proposed the project to our Scher High School Engineering Design Pathways class and determined the scope of our project. Phase two from October to December 2025, we determined what information to include on our signs and develop any graphics telling you. we also started to solicit feedback from students from our school. Phase three was from December 2025 to February of 2026. And there we developed physical sign materials, which you'll see soon, and piloted just a few signs at some bus stops. Phase four, from March to April, 2026, we placed signs as according to our scaling that we developed earlier in the school year. And phase five, which we recently completed, We presented the project to our engineering design pathways class, and we presented officially to Montebello bus lines at their headquarters, which was very nice. Phase six is what we are here today for, to see what the future of the project will be. So I'd like to pass it on to our team member Duong Lam to talk a little bit about our established signs currently and the history of them.

Right. So this project, which we conceptualized in June, was prompted by an evolution within signage for Montebello bus lines. Particularly, I'd like to draw attention to the change in signage from 2012 onwards. where a lot of the denser information about a specific route at each stop was cut out in favor of a link to the Montebello bus lines website. And while the Montebello bus lines website does contain maps and information about each stop, this raises concerns about both accessibility for new riders who may not realize how to navigate the site and for certain demographics which may not have the ability to navigate the site as easily. Thus, our goal with this project is to create clear signage that demonstrates important information about accessing each route. Right. Here, we'd just like to show some past attempts from Montebello bus lines in various places to improve the signage. Particularly there, we see just outside Montebello High School, some old timetables, as well as their first last mile plan.

I'd just like, since we introduced what the California High School Transit Alliance was, I'd like to just highlight some of our other friends' works. So we're not the only ones doing signage projects. So here, as you can see in some of the pictures, are just some examples of some around us, around California. So number one, number two, the top two signs, that was the inspiration for this project. Those were seen in Alhambra for Alhambra Community Transit Services. THEY HAVE SINCE BEEN REMOVED, BUT HERE WE ARE TODAY. THE BOTTOM TWO ARE FROM THE WORKS OF CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL TRANSIT ALLIANCE. THE BOTTOM LEFT IN PARTICULAR IS FOR THE BUS SIGN FOR THE SAN MATEO COUNTY TRANSIT DISTRICT. for one of their high school routes and so as you can see they show like when the how often the bus comes and where the main stops are and similarly goes for the one in the bottom right which is just outside san diego high school

um during this project we considered criteria and constraints for our project we had to find which type of material would work best for our project we use paper plastic duct tape tape um just to try to find what works best for the bus stops because each bus stop is a bit different than the last some of them are just poles some of them have like shelters some of them are just like like little post-its here and there. So we wanted to, you know, find what best suits the signage for each one of those stops. And we found that we use different types of materials. Like we did paper, we did sheet protectors, and we did laminated paper, which we found worked best. for our signs, and we also had taken consideration of the durability and longevity of our signs, like, you know, the weather, people, just the environment around the signs, trying to figure out, like, how can we make it last longer, and how can it withstand the weather conditions and also unpredictable events that may happen and occur, as well as the cost for our signs. We try to keep it cheap, you know, roughly under $5, because, you know, we don't want to spend, like, $1,000 on, like, one sign. You know, these are the many things that we had to take in consideration.

So as far as the graphic design of the signs are, the first picture to the left was a design in the summer of 2025, and this was a metro-style diagram, a metro-style sign that has each stop individually equally spaced. But the problem with this initial design was that there were conflicts in proportions, like you can't really gauge the distance between each relative stop pretty well. so then we revised that design in the fall of 2025 and we went for a geographical more zoomed in sign which includes the the time point present toward the center of the sign and uh the the full part of the route can actually be seen toward the bottom of the sign But we eventually revised that. And then we went to what is current, the winter 2025 design. And that is the complete route displayed And we went with this design because it's easier to mass produce. We don't have to recenter the stops, or we don't have to recenter the map. And it was overall much easier to go ahead and put these signs up, the geographical version. And as far as materials are concerned for the sign, As Xander mentioned, we initially went with sheet protectors in the fall of 2025, and they're currently still used if a level surface isn't provided, but we try to cut back on the sheet protectors because we eventually went to the laminating tape, the laminating films, which we found to be much more durable and much more reliable. And attachments materials have been limited to avoid any permit or destructive placement of any signs.

For our signage, we had to implement them into spots that we know people are going to be highly traffic-gated to, like places where people use the bus often, places that aren't going to be as vandalized as often, and also stops that interconnect with other bus lines, such as the metro. So we wanted to show how it's not just about Montebello, per se, but Other places too, because people need to get to certain places here and there, as well as the trains too. Easier connections between people and the trains. And that's the main implications that we went for. Highly designated populated areas. Sign removal and vandalism. We have noticed that in certain areas, though, like I previously mentioned, that most people get rid of the signs or tear them down. We're not too sure if it's people that are just like, I don't want these signs here or if these are just like acts of vandalism. But we take that into accountability for some signage places. We try to incorporate our signs. We try to figure out ways to be like, okay, like, see, this didn't work here. And maybe we should try a stronger type of material, maybe like zip ties or something. So we just take that into consideration.

Okay, so we can't do this alone. We know when it comes to information, there's a diverse group of people that have different needs. So to best fit those needs, we collect feedback from local communities regarding the sign graphics information. So as you can see on the slide, here's kind of the process of it. So first, we pilot the signs, just put out a few. Second, we solicit feedback from the community via Google Forms. Three, we take that feedback and we make any necessary adjustments. At four, we implement those adjustments and we produce more signs. And number five, we adhere to life cycle of the signs, which means we update, replace the signs as needed, as information might change. And as information changes and the needs evolve, this cycle repeats. So I'd like to hand it over to Daniel, who will share some of our results and findings from our surveys at several El Rancho and Wannabele Unified School District schools.

So as you can see from this slide, these are the number of responses that we've gotten from each school. And 12.9% said that they ride the NBL bus less than four rides a year. 10.8% say a few rides a month. 2.2% says one, two days a week. 3.6% says three to five days a week. And 2.8% says they ride it daily. So for the question of how helpful are the current signs for the people, 10.6% say they show adequate information regarding the bus route. 16.5% say they show where to board the bus, but more information would be helpful. And 3.6% say they don't show enough information. So for some of the questions here, 77% say that The signs provide information on the language that they read. 59% say they can locate themselves with the map on the signs. 66% say they're able to see where they're traveling on the bus and 52% are saying the information on the signs answer the questions they have about the bus service. 56% say they give better information than the already established NBL signs, and 58% say they like to see more of these signs at more stops. Some common open-ended responses that we have gotten on our survey is that they will like more languages and also better coverage and information in those languages. They would also like larger fonts, localized landmarks, for example, nearby corner stores. We also have gotten some responses saying they like places like McDonald's on the maps, and schedules.

Okay, the moment you've been waiting for, future of the project. So, So we're here to kind of convince City of Montebello to continue our project. A reason being many of, well, we just graduated. Many of us are moving on to college or university. We may not be around to implement the project. And we think that it is the city of Montebello are better equipped with the personnel and the supply and cap on the authority to implement the project. As a matter of fact, according to some Montebello buses documents, Montebello has jurisdiction for 143 bus stop shelters in the area. A lot of our signs have to do with, well, we're putting them at bus stops and we aren't equipped with the right tools to maintain it. And whenever we see a remove sign, it costs us to replace them. So if Montebello does choose to continue our project, we'll of course, we'll still be around and here's what we offer. So here in this presentation, we presented our design and our findings. So we can share kind of more specific feedback. I know we kind of summarized it a bit, but we have plenty of templates and documentation for the city to explore. So when we did present to Montebello Bus Signs, we shared some of the following recommendations now that we are concluding our side of the project. So I'd like to share some of those recommendations. So for the information on the signs, solicit feedback from groups. We only surveyed students from just a handful of schools. And of course, there are many different types of people who utilize the bus lines, such as seniors. Maybe they might share that they want the signs in larger print. Identify improvements for the signs accessibility. For the feedback, some have shared that some of the text is hard to read because it's like curved and they want to see it probably a bit more flat. Employ translation services to provide signs in more languages. Monobel Bus Signs recognizes, I believe, six languages that most writers use, which are English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. And of course, we are not equipped with the proper personnel for translation. As for implementation, physically placing out the signs, we recommend that the city installs fixtures within their jurisdiction because we've seen our signs being removed. We don't know who's doing it. We don't know if it's just strangers or vandals or maybe even public works who's doing it. So... So, I mean, around the Montebello Mart, I think the quickest, the highest rate of the removals was around the Montebello Mart, which they would be gone in like two days. Gone. And these are suspiciously in the same areas. In addition to placing these fixtures, we also recommend, since Montebello goes out to the surrounding communities to collaborate with their municipalities to also construct fixtures. Some cities might already have fixtures in place for their municipal bus lines. And finally, of course, adhere to the sign life cycle, replace them as needed, update any information. So as we close out our presentation, I'd like to summarize it. So the goal of our project is to equip nearby bus stops with signs including bus route information and therefore improve navigation around Montebello bus lines routes. One, established MBL signs lack essential information such as the bus number. Two, our criteria for our design is longevity, durability, accessibility, adaptability, and cost. Three, the design of the sign evolves to respond to the community's needs. Therefore feedback should be conducted regarding the information on the sign, such as language and accessibility. And last number five, we recommend the city of Montebello who are better equipped with the personnel and authority to adopt the project in the interest of improved way finding. Just a few acknowledgements because we cannot do this alone. I'd like to thank the MUSD Schur High School Engineering and Design Pathways class for their guidance and structure for our project. Our instructor, Mr. Valencia, is here in the audience tonight. and California High School Transit Alliance as well for their guidance. MUSD and El Rancho Unified School District Board and faculty for providing the surveys to the students. And of course, the generous people who printed our signs, Ms. Cunningham from Scher High School, Ms. Mosisian and my mom, my mom, Donna Chao. And of course, all the sheets of lamination, the machine was provided by our statistics teacher, Ms. Galima, Escher High School. We'd like to thank Montebelle Bus Line staff for giving us the chance to present our project to them at their facility. They accommodated us really, really well. And they gave us a tour, which was like a dream come true. Oh, and of course, for placing our signs, the Montebeau bus lines, drivers, mechanics, anyone who operates the bus for providing transportation for us to place the signs around. And of course you, the city council, directors and staff. Oh, we can send this presentation over and here's the abundance of documentation if you'd like to explore it. It's very well graphically designed. Oh, and those are our emails to keep in touch. Please talk to us. And with that, we'd like to open up to the city council staff for any questions, comments, and feedback, and maybe even the room for theirs.

Most certainly. So thank you. Thank you for your presentation. So as a bus rider myself, I ride the bus. I appreciate you having that connection of your community project to our bus lines. And as was mentioned, it's perfect timing because right now we were looking at designs on how to improve our bus stops, the shelters. Like you mentioned, there's different types. There's some with shelters. There's some that don't. There's some that are used very frequently. So they have to be designed a little different. So all of this is really going to come into play, and I don't want to speak for the Director of Transit, but I believe that this can definitely be very useful, and it'll be incorporated in our upcoming design. So thank you so much. And I'll have my colleagues, if they want to say a few words.

Yeah, thank you so much. I'm extremely impressed and we're just really proud of this group. I do want to share the transit club at Schur High School. Actually, during transit appreciation week, they all worked on developing just cute, adorable, incredible thank you cards that they actually hand delivered to our transit department, specifically for our transit operators. And they shared, you know, photos and being able to just see all the messages that a lot of the students wrote and how thankful they were for our bus operators, whether it was letting them slide for not having like 25 cents, right, or making sure that if they were running to the bus stop, right, that they waited for them. And so that level of appreciation really means a lot to us. You know, we have the third largest transit municipal system here in Los Angeles County and to our bus operators, to our personnel, I know it means a lot, especially when students show that level of appreciation. And I also do just want to say I appreciated you all having your contact information. So specifically with Mason, had an opportunity to meet him maybe two years ago. He was volunteering at one of our park cleanups and an opportunity to just have a conversation. He lives and breathes public transportation. To see that level of these students who are so interested in something like transit, these are future transit architects, planners, transit directors, who will essentially guide the movement of goods and people and that ecosystem in the future. And so for me, it's just very, very, very exciting to see the level of engagement that you all have created, not only in volunteering with our city, but even going as far as how do I contact my local transit department? How do I get involved? How do I? create a project that hopefully they can adopt in the future. That takes, I would say, a lot of dedication, a lot of commitment, and a lot of courage. So I do just want to acknowledge all of you here today, as well as your mentors, your teachers, your parents who have supported you in this process. And I'm just very excited for what the future holds for you all. I hope you come back, continue visiting our transit department. And if there are any opportunities during college for any projects, I know that our city is more than happy to support in that effort as well. So thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Melendez.

Thank you. Just want to thank you for the presentation. You guys have given me a whole different perspective on signage. But, you know, it takes a lot to come here and do a presentation. And thank you for all the hard work that you do. I would love to see, you know, our transit director and see, you know, how we can make this possible working with staff. But just want to acknowledge all the hard work that you are, that you all did and your commitment to better our signage. So thank you. And again, just amazing work for you. Thank you.

And also, Mayor Tim, if you have any questions or comments for the group, I know you're online.

Yeah, I'm extremely appreciative of the presentation.

I'd like to also echo what my colleagues have said. This presentation, it was really enlightening for me. I don't particularly ride the bus system too often. And so as somebody who doesn't ride, this would be perfect for me because it's clear how to take things. I think that would feel a little out of place. I wouldn't really know what to do. and especially for the senior community who isn't necessarily tech savvy it's much clearer and it's uh it's easy for them to ride the system so i just thank you for taking your time and investing into our community and hopefully uh transit does take into consideration all that you put together and we can collaborate and and use some of the material that you put out for there for us so i just i thank you and i appreciate um all your work that went into this project

Great. So on behalf of the City Council and the Montebello Bus Lines, it's truly an honor to recognize the efforts of these students for their outstanding achievement and dedication. And with that, with the recognition we have, we will be awarding $1,000 scholarship to each of you.

So we will be right then.

If you can join me in the front, too.

Thank you.

THANK YOU, DIRECTOR SORYA, FOR ADVOCATING FOR US FOR THE SCHOLARSHIPS.

DIRECTOR SORYA, IF YOU WANT TO COME ON UP, PLEASE. THEY WANT TO THANK YOU AS WELL FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN. SO LET'S SEE. I'LL DO ONE BY ONE. OKAY. OUR FIRST CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION IS FOR MASON.

THERE YOU GO, MASON.

And next we have Xander.

Xander. All right. Thank you.

Daniel. Daniel's over here, right, Daniel? Duong. Congratulations, Duong. And Jacob. Congratulations.

Yeah, man. Mayor, I think everybody's still getting settled in. I know we're jumping, we've been jumping around, but just a little housekeeping maybe, because I know as we get into the regular agenda and public comments and all those items, if you may want to consider just moving forward first with the item for the Public Finance Authority, and then we can go back to the regular agenda. Otherwise, I might get kicked towards the end. Okay. Is that okay with you, Mayor? Yes. Okay. Just a reminder, we're doing a joint meeting of the City of Montebello Public Finance Authority and the regular City Council meeting. We're going to briefly go back to the Finance Authority for consideration by the City Council. ADOPT RESOLUTION 20 NUMBER 26-51 OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND RESOLUTION NUMBER 26-01 OF THE PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS AND CERTIFICATES IN CONNECTION WITH THE INSURANCE by the Montebello Public Finance Authority of Least Revenue Refunding Bonds, 2026 Series A. We have a presentation from our Director of Finance, Michael Solarsa.

Thank you for that. Yeah, we're not going to read the entire recommendation because that's a mouthful also. So in front of City Council tonight is consideration of refunding, refinancing the 2016 Home 2 Suites bonds, which would be the 2026 Series A bonds. SO AN OVERVIEW HERE, IN NOVEMBER OF 2016, WE ISSUED $54.86 MILLION IN BONDS TO CONSTRUCT THE HOME TWO SUITES HOTEL. HOTEL OPENED IN SEPTEMBER OF 2018. AND THEN IN JUNE OF 2026 IS WHEN THESE BONDS BECAME ELIGIBLE AFTER THE FIRST 10 YEARS, VERY STANDARD WITH PUBLIC LEASE REVENUE BONDS. The ultimate goal is to reduce annual debt service. That's why you refinance very similar to your home mortgage. Get a lower interest rate, you save on your annual debt service. So at this point, given market readings, we're looking at about $435,000 in annual savings, which means reduced expenses equal a greater margin between operating revenue and expenses. So anything we can do to provide a greater cushion? between expenses and revenue for the hotel means it's even on more solid financial footing than it already is. And this refinancing does not extend the term. They're still going to be paid off at the original 30-year mark, June of 2046. Okay. So what's in front of the Public Finance and Authority City Council tonight is refunding $446.6 million in outstanding bonds. That's the principal that's left after 10 years. True interest cost of 4.04%, which would be, give or take, $8.7 million in savings over the remaining life of the bonds to 2046. So again, very favorable. That's the only reason that we'd be doing this is to save ongoing costs, and in the end, $8.7 million, give or take. And again, once we go to market, we'll have exact numbers on what the savings will be. So the timing is city council, public finance authority approval consideration tonight. Staff will work then to finalize the official statement. That's basically the marketing document that goes out to the bond market that tells them about Montebello and about the bonds. We will do a credit presentation at S&P. in July, bond pricing in July, and then issue bonds and closing in August. So by July with bond prices when we'll have a better idea of what the market looks like in terms of interest costs. So all operating expenses, including debt service, are currently covered by a hotel operating revenue. There's no general fund subsidy. This refinancing provides increased protection against reductions in hotel operating revenue. So again, just strengthens its financial footing at the end of the day. Any kind of economic downturn or any other shock to the travel industry, which might impact occupancy, that's what this helps caution against. And so that's what we have here tonight. Available for questions. I also have members of our financing team in the audience if there's additional questions that need to be addressed. Thank you.

Thank you, Director Salorza. Any questions or comments? Council Member Melendez.

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. And I think this is a good thing for us to be able to save up a little bit more money. My question is more in... in regards to the hotel operating revenues. So essentially when we get the revenue back, my thought process would be that we pay the debt service first. If I can just have like an explanation of how, we distribute like the payments of whatever we need to pay, you know, the debt service, the city gets the money, personnel, the operator, like how does that get structured just to kind of understand that a little bit better?

Do you want to take that? Yes, yes, I can take that. So there's bond indentures which guide the flow of funds when it comes to the operations. The updated bond indentures that will be going with the 2026 refinancing Obviously, the bond holders are made whole first, right? So any operating revenue goes first to pay down the debt service, so annual debt service there. And then next, we have a commitment, obviously, to pay for the operating expenses. So that's anything related to the operations of the hotel, staffing costs, maintenance, revenue, or excuse me, capital projects. and then the management fees that are paid actually to the Hilton company for the Hilton franchise. The updating with the indentures basically at that point uh um leaves whatever revenue is left to pay we could pay ourselves back at that point so the update with this refinancing actually kind of frees up the flow of funds there's some definite commitments we still have bondholders offering expenses but then at the end of the day

with this extra cushion kind of what we've been able to do the last couple years in terms of sweeping excess revenue from home two suites to the general fund this provides a little more cushion to allow that to continue to happen and i guess that like that extra or the extra revenue or or whatever leftover that the city gets that's used to like uh that goes to the general fund or does that go back into operating more of another extra payment to the debt service.

What do we usually do with that amount of money? That goes to the general fund. So the last couple of years, there's been some transfers of revenue from the home disputes fund to the general fund, and that just flows to operating revenue in the general fund.

Yeah, I mean, Councilman, I think where you're going with this, yes, it ultimately comes back to a general fund and then to that larger pot of money, and then that gets added to the larger budget process. But ultimately, I guess it's paying for everything we do, right? Like the additional just gets added to our salaries or services police fire and then debt service right i think you know there's other projects that we we bonded against many many years ago so so in essence that that it's helpful to us because to make sure that we're able to pay those bills to make sure those projects are ongoing and down the road that money is going to get freed up but yeah but ultimately it does come back to the general fund and it gets reapplied depending on the budget situation for that given year

Any other comments or questions? So I have just a couple of comments. So it's, it's, this is a refinance. I'm sorry.

Just real quickly. I wanted to know, and maybe I missed it. What is our current rate right now? And then what will it be? Or do we not have that information yet?

So the current rate is in the low 5%, which, again, that's an aggregate over different bond terms that are still left outstanding. Right now, the estimate is 4.04%. We'll have a better idea once we go to market and actually price the bonds in three to four weeks. But all true in interest costs is about 4.04% right now.

Just to further clarify, what we're presenting is the projected savings depending on the date, the final date of us actually refinancing this debt structure. So this is very similar to, in simplest terms, to a home, right? You have a home, we have a 30-year term. depending on whatever interest rate you have for equity, you refinance that to have additional savings. So that's in essence what we're doing, but the hard part is our projections, right? We go through this process and it's very, it's a very highly regulated process, but at some point in July, we will go with our final proposal to the market. And then on that given day, interest rates fluctuate from one day to another. Whatever that day it is, we'll get locked into that interest rate. We'll come back to council. We'll inform you what was the final terms and what was the final cost savings. But as of now, based on our review of the market, we anticipate $434,000 or so, give or take. So Mayor Pro Tem, that's... we're hopeful that that's the range that we're going to stay with again, but we won't know until the actual day that we close the terms of these agreements.

Any other questions or comments? So again, it is like this transaction would be like refinancing your home. We're not taking any additional debt. We're just getting better terms, staying with the same amount of years that are left on the loan, but just getting a better interest rate, which is going to be then cheaper. But along the lines of council member Melendez, if we are going to see more or less of about 435,000 of annual savings in that waterfall, I see what you're saying that we want to make, or how do we make sure that that 435 doesn't get, um, swept up in operating and expenses and all the other fees that are paid before the City of Montebello gets their fee. So the 435, how can the City of Montebello have that full benefit? Is there a way?

I mean, there is no way to guarantee. because at the end of the day, I mean, we have to look at what the annual operating expenses are. And as we've seen in recent years, the increase in minimum wage increases labor costs, and obviously the hotels are highly labor dependent. There's also supplies and concessionaire expenses. However, the city paying closer attention to these expenses, working very closely with the hotel operator to minimize those expenses is the absolute best way to guarantee that this savings actually gets realized is by having that relationship with the operator and really watching expenses and asking, are we getting the best bang for the buck when it comes to whether those repairs have to be done, what we're paying for for these repairs, what the concession costs are, can we find cheaper ways to provide certain services? That's where it's on the expense side.

Yeah, Mayor, and if I may add... the oversight and the accountability, it's probably the most important aspect of this. And we all play our role on this council to staff, to day-to-day staff. I mean, what you're seeing right now, we just passed a budget on last meeting. And for those that have been here before I got here, I mean, there's been many, many years of decisions and changes and steps that have been taken to right-size Everything that happens on our golf course, right? It has many, many moving pieces, two hotels, a top golf, nine hole clubhouse, staff events. There's a lot, a lot of moving pieces. I can tell you, I mean, I've been three years into this that even before I got here, there was a concerted effort to make sure that we make those adjustments that we needed. that we put those parameters in place now. But we got to keep making those adjustments. We got to keep having oversight. We got to make sure that we hold ourselves accountable. And likewise, the folks that operate these facilities accountable to ensure that we're maximizing the public funds that we're putting in. Because Michael's right. If we are not, that we're not doing our jobs, these savings could easily, you know, be spent or go away really quickly, right? So my anticipation is this council is very, very smart and keeps us to task that next year you're going to ask, you know, how much did we save and where's it going? And what are we doing to make sure that we continue having those savings? And we welcome that. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. With that, I'll go ahead and take a motion and a second for this item.

I'll motion to approve.

I'll second.

Motion by Council Member Peralta, a second by Council Member Melendez. Please call the roll.

Vice Chairperson Romero.

Call her again.

Vice Chairperson Romero, you vote for this item.

Vice Chair Romero, can you hear us?

Aye.

Thank you.

Member Peralta?

Aye.

Member Melendez? Aye. Chairperson Tamayo?

Aye. And this item passes.

Now back to the regular meeting. I think we're circling back to public comment.

Mayor, then you can adjourn the City of Montebello public finance authority.

So the meeting is adjourned for the joint, the public financing authority at this time. It is 823.

And then we continue on with the city council meeting. Okay.

So we will continue on with our city council meeting and we are now at corrections to that agenda, Mr. City Manager, if there's any.

No corrections, Mayor, thank you. Okay, thank you.

We'll move on to our public comment. Mr. City Attorney.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor. This is time for public comments on non-agenda items for the first 30-minute period. Anyone who wishes to address the City Council would have turned in a card by this time. And each speaker has three minutes. And Mr. City Clerk, do we have cards turned in?

Yes, we have a total of nine speaker cards.

Nine? Yes. Okay.

First speaker is Will Severo, followed by Raul Hurtado.

Good evening, council. My name is Will Cervera, resident of over 40 years. Two days ago, on June 22nd, the Montebello Fire Management Association, representing the command staff of our fire department, adopted a formal vote of no confidence in the fire chief, Fernando Pelias. This 30-page report has been sent to the city council, the city manager, and the fire chief. The report details an unusual close relationship between Fire Chief Pelias and a special firefighter reportedly, Zachary Humber. According to the document, this individual was promoted too quickly, given a new department pickup truck with substantial upgrades. While others were denied and assigned, he was also assigned in office next to the chiefs and allegedly allowed to interfere with schedules, overtime, and operational decisions. But despite being removed as a union president by his own firefighters, he has returned to full duty. The fire chief reportedly in February 25th command staff meeting has given, he gave the firefighter full authority to run the department, a captain running the full department. When the battalion chiefs raised the concerns, the report states that they faced retaliation after the meeting with the human resources on April 28th, the fire chief imposed sudden adverse actions just days later, including excessive mandatory schedules with one battalion chief forced to work 25 out of the 30 days in June. Bans often filing captain roles, requirements to stay available to after 9 p.m. every night, and restrictions on wild line assignments. The report also describes the assistant city manager referencing back to pay ode to the command staff under the MOU, then immediately urging them to continue to support the fire chief, especially during these hard times. Command staff understood this is a conditioning compensation on support of testimony. This has created what the document calls a culture of fear. The battalion chiefs are, there's two battalion chiefs currently off on work due to stress. There are reports that from the fire chief's office down, including the firefighters in question, efforts are being made to get members of the fire department to speak and downplay the report. Those benefiting from the current situation have every reason to protect it. Concerns also have been raised of lateral hires. Professional departments like Pasadena, Long Beach, and Los Angeles County generally start people from the ground up. Some here appear to benefit from the rules while others must follow the rules. This report has been delivered to the city. If anyone claims that they have not received it, I will provide you another copy tonight. There is no excuse. I believe the fire chief, the firefighter in question and the assistant city manager should be removed till pending investigation is completed like they do the rest of the staff. You have placed staff on leave for far less and they should be treated equally. Otherwise it will go to help in the pending litigation that the city is currently facing. By the way, from what I hear, the litigation's been really bad on the city's behalf. So we're looking like crap. Council, you have a responsibility to protect the firefighters and our community. I urge you to commission a full review, an independent review. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Raul Hurtado, followed by Ray Breguer.

As promised, I got the report from the police department on, uh, The complaint that I filed about a cadet harassing me in the alleyway behind my house. A copy of the complaint that you filed is attached for your reference.

Not true.

There was nothing attached. Based on the information you provided to the Montebello Police Department together with a review of all related materials and supporting documentation, I didn't give any supporting documentation or materials, whether the cadet did. I don't know where he pulled them out of because it was just me and him in the alleyway. The department has determined that there is insufficient evidence to to sustain the allegations that an employee violated department or city misconduct policies, okay? Now, it goes on to say, during the course of the investigation, procedural violations were identified. You say one thing, then you say another. These names will be addressed, These matters will be addressed internally through appropriate administrative action. Please be advised that your complaint was investigated thoroughly and in accordance with department policy. The allegations of misconduct are classified as unfounded while separate administrative findings related to procedure policy violations were identified. Harassment. I can't say it any clearer. I'm 83 years old. I've been around the block a few times. I know harassment when I see it. That snotty kid harassed me. There's no two ways about it. According, this matter is considered closed. If I have any questions, give me a phone number to call a certain somebody. I called that certain somebody to ask questions. It sounded like he didn't really want to talk to me. It sounded like he didn't even know anything about this. So I was not getting any answers. Now, during the discussion with him, I forgot to ask him some questions. So I called back and left the message for him to give me a call back about something I had forgotten. To this day, he has not returned my call. We in the neighborhood over there are under a bad situation and we've been asking for help for help for a long time. We're not getting it from anybody. So me and the neighbors have decided we're just going to have to go to the sheriffs and see if we can get some help because the Montebello Police Department is not helping us at all. Luis Lopez has dedicated to superior service. Ha!

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Ray Bregeer, followed by Rosa Tamayo.

My name is Ray Broguer. I'm here to comment on the railroad. I was here several months back. There was a little different makeup on the council, a different mayor in the middle. To voice my concern on the train stoppage that continually happens week after week. Nothing's been done. Nobody from the city ever contacted me on any of my concerns on that. I'm concerned about the safety of the people in Montebello. and the lack of respect that the railroad gives to the people of Montebello. They stop the trains whenever they want, 10 minutes. This week here, one stop for 20 minutes. Last week, 55 minutes. We've clocked them up to six hours in the past. People just, you wait in line, you get a slow roll and train come through, you're in line for 10 minutes, and then the train comes to a stop blocking all three crossings, Vail, Maple, and Greenwood. You sit in the line for five or 10 minutes thinking, well, maybe the train's going to move. It don't. It stays there for 15, 20, 30, an hour, whatever. I've already told you the times. I think it's time for this city to stand up and do not accept second best from the railroad. I was born and raised next to that track. The stoppage has started maybe just a couple years back and has just gotten worse and worse and worse. And I think the city ought to do something about it. We as citizens in the town deserve better than to sit there waiting. Edison, when they're going to shut off the power for you, they sit there and they'll send out a notice ahead of time through the mail, whatever. The power is going to go out at a certain time. You can live with that. Railroad, they just come in, park their trains, and for what reason? A flat tire? I don't think so. Out of gas? I don't even think that. They gave me the baloney that it was vandalism. Baloney. We did away with that thing. Then they started mechanical stuff, mechanical problems. One time they told me, this was after about a one-hour wait, that the train had to stop. They had to send somebody down to the far end where the train was going east to change crews. Why didn't they do that in the yard? It doesn't make sense. And Montebello, the people of Montebello... Probably everybody in this room or most of them have been stopped by that train. And if the city council doesn't know anything about it, you should because I was here one time complaining about it. I think it's time that the city think about just standing up to the railroad one time and find out what the heck is going on because it's not right. It's not fair. And we deserve better. If you accept second best, that's all you're ever going to get from the railroad. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Rosa Tomayo, followed by Amy Tenenbaum.

Okay. Yeah. Buenas noches. Yo soy Rosa Tamayo y soy una activista comunitaria. Mayor Tamayo, miembro del concilio. Nomás quiero que sepan que la semana pasada, El meeting pasado, alguien se, no sé, actuó de mala fe conmigo. Me mandaron un mensaje que si yo tenía Alzheimer. No lo tengo. Lo que pasa es que cuando nosotras las personas que tenemos epilepsia, tenemos un problema de una nube en nuestro cerebro y Y pasa que tenemos que estar como controlar un poco para que no venga el gran mal. Pero me siento muy... Yo no me da miedo absolutamente nada, pero... ni le tengo miedo a nada, solamente le tengo mucho miedo a la ignorancia. A eso sí le tengo mucho miedo. Pero de ahí para allá, no le tengo miedo a nada. La otra cosa es que en ese tiempo yo estuve trabajando muy fuerte en la campaña de Javier Becerra y la señora Durazo. Por eso yo me sentía cansada mentalmente, pero eso me tiene mentalmente alerta también. La otra cosa es que me da mucho gusto mirar que estos muchachos de high school están trabajando muy fuerte y Porque yo tuve a mi hijo con mucho problema para transportarlo independiente. Por eso estoy y voy a pelear otra vez con el distrito de educación porque no están haciendo sus transiciones como Rosaslau se necesita. ¿Por qué? porque también viene la transportación independiente para ellos. En los 18 años ya deben de estar aprendiendo los estudiantes con necesidades especiales a transportarse independientemente para ir al colegio, hacer sus compras, o lo que ellos gusten. Muchas gracias.

Gracias por su comentario.

Next speaker is Amy Tannenbaum, followed by Denise Egopian.

Good evening, my name is Amy Tannenbaum. I'm a resident of District 1, and this is my assistant. As a working mom, I haven't been able to make it to as many of these as I'd like, but from my review of agendas and my communications with fellow Montebello United members, I understand that the city council has not taken further action regarding a data center ban, since the 45-day ordinance that passed in February. Especially now that Monterey Park has banned data centers, we need to take similar action here because I'm sure the developers are coming to inquire and we need to make them know that data centers are not welcome in Montebello. So I'm asking you to place a permanent ban on the agenda as soon as practicable. I also want to raise concerns related to the lineage fire in Boyle Heights. Montebello needs to be prepared for these crises, which affect our and our children's health and have ripple effects on people who work outside, who are then forced to choose between their health and being able to pay rent and put food on the table. One way to help would be to pass stronger tenant protections, like those in neighboring jurisdictions, requiring a minimum threshold to be met before a nonpayment eviction can be brought, and enacting robust just cause protections for tenants. Finally, I do have to go since it's way past my assistant's bedtime. But I just want to say I very much support item number nine, which will allow me to better balance my obligations as a working parent. And finally, thank you for installing a diaper change station in the restroom. Thanks.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Denise Goupian, followed by Alfredo Estrada.

Good evening, Denise Hagopian, 43 year business owner and property owner in the city of Montebello. The job of city government is to make responsible decisions, enacting local laws, managing our tax dollars, delivering services such as public safety, police and fire, sanitation, street maintenance, street lights, and traffic systems. Our city has failed on all of these job descriptions regarding the center divider on Montebello Boulevard. The center divider was, in my opinion, constructed illegally. It has slowed traffic, created increased travel times. No U-turns have caused confusion for drivers and increased accidents. The painting of stripes and directional guidance have further confused the drivers. They're turning irrationally and doing basically whatever they want and driving in circles just trying to figure out what is the correct way to enter some of the businesses. The U-turn signs are still not installed. The project has failed in all levels. It has slowed down public services of police and fire and not created harmony on our public streets. The effect on businesses of this one block stretch of Montebello has been catastrophic. You need to help small businesses, not create more problems. I've repeatedly requested to consider removal of a small portion of that center divider, about 15 to 20 feet, for long-term public safety and increasing revenue for the businesses that are located on that street. We need to protect our city from future litigation. We need to help today, not six months from now. I've been coming for six months, and the progress has been very, very slow. And the monies that all of our businesses lose are the monies that we use to interact with our community, the little free projects, the donations to the baseball teams. When they come for a sponsorship, There's no more extra money to do those community service projects. We need you to really look at this and come up with a better solution. Waiting for the U-turn signs is not good enough. I appreciate your time and please address this issue. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Alfredo Stella, followed by Marcos Miranda.

Good evening, honorable Adam Mayer, council members, city manager, department directors, and members of the public, Alfredo Estrada. I am the assistant fire chief for Montebello. The purpose here today, or my purpose, is to reverently and respectfully say that although I am part of the command management staff, I do not agree with the vote of no confidence for the fire chief. ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE DISAGREEMENT ABOUT OPERATIONAL MATTERS AND HOW WE ARRIVE AT ATTAINING BEST INDUSTRY PRACTICES, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE THROUGH RELEVANT, MEANINGFUL AND RESPECTFUL DIALOGUE AND DISCUSSIONS THAT SHOULD BE A PREFERRED MEDIUM. JUST BECAUSE ONE DISAGREES WITH OPERATIONAL DECISIONS DOESN'T MEAN YOU ARE RIGHT AND MUCH LESS WARRANT A LETTER OF NO CONFIDENCE. I have been in the fire service for more than 28 years, and I've been a fire chief from the place where I came from before coming here. My daddy was in the fire service. He retired after 36 years. And one of the things that he installed in me about human affairs is this, out of the many things. When you throw mud at someone else, you not only get your hands dirty, but you lose ground. As chief officers, we have the responsibility to be without reproach. Under the leadership of the fire chief, we have a duty and responsibility to be an extension of the fire chief and the organization's mission and core values, which aligns us with the city's leadership. We might agree to disagree at times, but we should never be disagreeable. He alone has the weight of this responsibility and it is our duty to help him carry that weight and ensure organizational sustainability and progress. CHIEF PELAYAS IS A 40-PLUS YEAR VETERAN OF THE MONTBELO FIRE DEPARTMENT AND FOR ALMOST A DECADE HE HAS BEEN AT THE HELM OF THE DEPARTMENT AND CONVERTED IT INTO WHAT IT IS TODAY, A THRIVING ORGANIZATION OF GREAT, YOUNG, COMPETENT FIREFIGHTER WORKFORCE WHO HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE. NO DEPARTMENT GOES WITHOUT CHALLENGES AND HURDLES. Chief Pelias as an innovative and progressive fire chief, he pushes us to continually evolve and be at the vanguard of technology and everything that we do to improve the safety of our firefighters and our community. Under the leadership and direction of Chief Pelias just recently, we completed a three year strategic plan that addresses the strengths, the weaknesses, the opportunities and the threats of the organization. Most importantly, the plan addresses goals, timelines, and benchmarks to ensure the organization's health and success. Lastly, it is my honor and privilege to serve under the leadership of Fire Chief Pelaez, the executive leadership of the city, and to serve our firefighters and community to the best of my ability. Thank you for giving me an honest hearing.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Marcos Miranda, followed by Corey Chappell.

Good evening everybody. My name is Marcos Miranda and I'm speaking on behalf of the majority of the members of the Montebello Professional Firefighters Association Local 3821. The majority of the Local 3821 hereby submits this letter of non-confidence regarding the leadership of President Jesus Macias, Vice President Adam Bickford, and Secretary Diego Lucas. After careful consideration and consultation among the membership, It has become evident that the current leadership has failed to uphold the standards of integrity, professionalism, accountability, transparency, and fair representation EXPECT OF ELECTED OFFICERS OF THIS ASSOCIATION. AS A RESULT, WE NO LONGER HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY REPRESENT THE MEMBERSHIP AND ADVANCE THE INTEREST OF LOCAL 3821. THE CONCERNS RAISED BY THE MEMBERSHIP INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO DEFAMING AND KNOWINGLY MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT MEMBERS, CONDUCTING DETRIMENTAL TO WAREFARE UNITY OF THE ASSOCIATION, MISUSE OF UNION OFFICE AND AUTHORITY FOR PERSONAL OR POLITICAL PURPOSES, CONDUCT THAT HAS BROUGHT DISCREDIT UPON THE ORGANIZATION SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE ASSOCIATION WITHOUT PROPER MEMBERSHIP AUTHORIZATION. COLLECTIVELY, THESE ACTIONS HAVE ERODED TRUST IN THE LEADERSHIP OF LOCAL 3821. created division among the membership and undermining the principles upon which association was founded. We believe elected union officials must act with honesty, transparency, accountability, professionalism, and respect for the members they serve based upon the concerns Outlined above, we no longer have confidence in the leadership of President Jesus Macias, Vice President Adam Bickford, and Secretary Diego Lucas. Accordingly, we respectfully submit this signed letter of no confidence on behalf of the majority of the members of Local 3821. Here's a document for evidence. Furthermore so, the reason I'm here today is to just simply state that Myself and the majority of the fire department support our chief. We support his mission. He's been a great leader to all of us, a mentor, a guide, and he continues to do so to this day. All of us are tired of people coming up here and talking about our department, people who are not firefighters talking about our department as if they know what they're talking about. We don't want that anymore. We don't need that. We don't need to be portrayed to the public as incompetent. I am the one that shows up to your house to serve you. And I can promise you that I hold a high standard set by our chief. So I will continue to do so and so will my firefighters. I am on the floor every single day. I'm here a lot. I work a lot because I like to serve my community and so do my firefighters. And we don't need...

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Corey Chappell.

My name is Corey Chappell. I live in District 5. A few meetings ago, the President of the Fire Union shared allegations of declining morale, employee departures, fear of retaliation, and other concerns raised by firefighters. Now the Montebello Fire Management Association, representing fire command staff, has formally adopted a vote of no confidence and is requesting an independent and partial investigation. Through public comment, we learned that many of these concerns were brought to the attention of city council members as far back as 2021. Our firefighters deserve to know why these issues were allowed to go unresolved for so long. I respectfully ask this council to authorize a truly independent investigation conducted by a firm with no ties to the city, its leadership, or the fire department. The goal should not be to protect anyone. It should be to find the truth wherever that leads and restore trust within the department and our community. Next, I want to applaud the opening of the new police department substation in South Montebello. That investment is something that many residents have wanted to see for years. As grateful as we are for that substation, I have heard disappointment from several neighbors that they didn't even know the grand opening was taking place. How is that information distributed? Were mailers sent? Were flyers posted? Many of our residents, especially our seniors, aren't on social media. So if your goal is stronger community engagement, you need to meet people where they are, not just online. I also want to address the nearby fire that has impacted our air quality. Many residents were asking why it took so long for anyone from the city to provide information or direct people to available protective equipment. During emergencies, timely communication matters. I'd appreciate hearing how the city plans to improve emergency notifications moving forward. Finally, that toxic smoke from this fire served as a reminder of how important clean air is to our community. I want to be very clear that I do not support a data center, a battery energy storage facility, or any other industrial project that could introduce additional environmental hazards into Montebello. My neighbors and I value clean air, safe neighborhoods, and a healthy quality of life. I urge this council to adopt that same commitment and make protecting the health and safety of our residents the guiding principle in every future land use decision. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that concludes all spirit cards for non-agenda items.

Okay, thank you. Okay, that moves us on to item number five. Comments on staff on community interest.

Just a reminder, we have our big 4th of July event this Saturday at Grant Ray Park. It starts at 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. the fireworks show. We have a lot of festivities, concerts, bands. We invite all the community to join us on Saturday. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Okay, that does move us then to number five, approval of an exclusive negotiation agreement between the City of Montebello and Prime Store for the potential redevelopment of downtown Montebello properties. Do we have any speakers on this item, number five?

Yes, we do have a few speakers for item number five.

We'll call them up. We'll call them up.

Yes.

First speaker is Will Savera, followed by Corey Chappell.

How are you guys doing? Will Savera. You know, I'm glad that we're going to start doing development in the city, and I want the city to move forward. There's always a perception that we don't, maybe myself doesn't want it. The problem that I'm against is bad projects. Looking at Prime Store's development, I think it's subpar for what the city of Montebello deserves, and I think we should get a better company and a better development company with experience, especially in the mixed-use space. Something along the lines of how Caruso did the Grove or how they did the Americana would be a lot better. I'm not saying we're going to have the same space. However, I'm tired of us being a training ground for people, and we need experience on this one, especially considering that we're going to be having. It's tied also looks like into a parking structure, which I hope actually goes to the original spot that the former council designated, and it's even in the general plan when they were talking about it the last time I saw it, right behind Jimmy's with the two properties that were vacant lands now. So this way it would actually work better for the community. This was supposedly already was supposed to be zoned. But as far as Prime Store goes, like I said, I love the idea. Just think that the company needs to be changed. We need to have higher quality. This is a huge project that can be potentially really large. And when you look at those areas that they've worked in, I'm sorry, I don't think anybody in the city of Montebello would want to move there. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker, Corey Chappell on agenda item five.

Hi, I'm Corey Chappell. I'm a resident of District 5 and a taxpayer of this city. I'm here tonight to voice serious concerns regarding the proposal to enter into an exclusive contract with Primester Development. As the City Council is well aware, our city has a history of entering into exclusive agreements that ultimately fail to deliver on their promises and leave local taxpayers footing the bill. Because of these past costly mistakes, our community expects and deserves absolute transparency before we lock ourselves into another exclusive partnership. To ensure that we are protecting public funds and public land, I am formally requesting that the Council answer the following questions for the record tonight. How exactly was Primester chosen for this specific project? What criteria were used to determine they are the best fit for our community's financial and structural needs? How long was the RFP process open to ensure a fair and competitive bidding environment? How many other companies applied or submitted bids for this project before the city decided to move forward with Primester? And what specific quantifiable benefits does entering into an exclusive contract provide to our city and its taxpayers compared to keeping the bidding process open and competitive? An exclusive agreement completely shuts out competition and ties the city's hands. Before this council votes to grant any developer exclusive rights to public assets, we must have clear evidence that this is a fiscally sound decision. I urge the council to pause these negotiations until these questions are answered and a robust, comprehensive community input process is established. We need the same level of transparency, neighborhood workshops, and active engagement that was offered to the residents and neighbors adjacent to the golf course project. Every resident deserves a seat at the table when public assets are on the line. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that concludes all spirit cards for agenda item number five.

Okay.

Any questions, comments?

If not, this matter is at the council level for a motion. And a second.

I just have a few comments. Yes. Just do want to acknowledge the speakers that spoke on this item. You know, this falls in the downtown area. There's a lot of there's a lot of opportunity in that area. There's a lot of things that we have been doing to assure that that area can be eventually a downtown and something that folks can go in there and have a drink, go and get ice cream, have a place to go. And we've been seeing some activations and it's a lot of work that we're doing there. We're also trying to create density. And with density, we also know that for that area to be successful, it also needs a parking structure. So there's big plans for that area. As far as this developer, Prime Store, I can assure you they're probably the top tier development in the area. And we've had several conversations with them about other projects that they've done. I think they're doing a pretty massive project in the city of Norwalk. I'm happy to share that with the residents as well so you can kind of see some of the projects that they do, public-private partnerships. They're based on conversations that I've had with colleagues in the city of Norwalk. They do a lot of outreach. They really try to envision what the community wants to see in those projects. And I think that's something that in hearing that from a lot of colleagues outside of the city, that's something that we want to have here because they they want to understand what, um, what we're all about, right? What the city's, what's important for us here. So, um, I can assure you that they're top tier developer. That's gonna, that can definitely have a huge impact in that area. Um, and just, you know, overall, just, um, I know, um, the city team as well, um, community development director, Columbia, um, And Jose, you guys have done a great job in putting this together and putting the vision there as well with the city staff and council and even the community, you know, having some input. So I also do want to acknowledge you all as well. But just, you know, I share the, you know, the concerns and they're valid, but I can assure you this is a developer that we do want in our city. Thank you.

Just to acknowledge and just I think high-level overview of just the bidding process and how that took place, because I know this is something that the city has been working on for a little bit now.

Yes, Director Palumbo can speak to how we got here.

Yes, thank you, Mr. City Manager. Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. So we did go through the State Surplus Land Act. We control 2.16 acres now in the downtown area, which is within the downtown specific plan. Last year, we did go through the Surplus Land Act and we put the... properties out for what's called a notice of availability. We did not receive any responses, which allows us now to negotiate directly with a developer. Prime Store, as mentioned, has extensive experience. In the area and they have I believe over two decades of experiences and developing mixed-use projects, which is what we're looking for So we this there isn't there's obviously no commitments in this exclusive negotiation agreements. It's a six month agreement We did make sure that we included community outreach so there is a requirement to do three at a minimum public workshops and And I can guarantee you, talking to Prime Store's community outreach team, they do a very good job of community outreach, and I was very impressed with their strategy and their ideas. So I believe that the community will be happy with the level of engagement that will be associated with this six-month sort of, we'll be in a feasibility kind of phase where we'll see if it's feasible for both parties, and then we will come back to council.

Thank you, I appreciate that and just acknowledging comments that were shared. Just really quickly here, I would say in terms of just, you know, having conversations around what the vision for the downtown area could look like. I think council has been very, very intentional about not necessarily saying this is what we want, but really allowing the opportunity to have these workshops, to have these engagement opportunities, to understand what the community wants. So if you ask us, Is there a set vision? Is there a master plan? Is what's going to be there? We can all honestly say we have no idea. I think right now this is the opportunity to essentially help shape and bring to life a concept that is really shaped by our community. And through these conversations that we've had in terms of community outreach, I will say what I've really appreciated learning from specifically this entity is their cultural awareness and sensitivity when it comes to engaging communities, especially Latino communities. When it comes to their workshops, they actually do dedicate one of their workshops more on just the educational foundations of planning. They have engagement opportunities where they essentially allow people to build out what a downtown area could look like. And then from there, they go through the process of why something doesn't work or why something works. Just because I think oftentimes when it comes to planning, there's a lot of requirements. There's a lot of, you know, we can put a storefront this way, but what happens if the loading dock is facing, you know, it's facing in front of an apartment, then that will cause issues. And so doing even just the foundational educational components of planning educating residents and doing this process alongside with them, I think for me was what was really interesting. I've never seen that level of intentionality when it comes to community engagement, especially for development projects of this size. Another project that they walked us through, which I really appreciated, someone that has continuously advocated for the arts and has really pushed the city on incorporating more art is they actually hosted a workshop where they invited all the youth in the community and they had these, they're not bricks, but I'm not sure what they're called, but essentially they gave each student or each youth this piece and everyone essentially drew what they wanted to. I don't know if there was a theme. They ended up using that specific material that the students drew on to actually shape the artwork that they incorporate into one of their projects. And so I think for me, learning about the process that they've taken. And council really, I would say at this level, engaging with them about what does community outreach look like beyond just even what we want, I think is something that was really interesting, was unique. And I think this is the opportunity now in terms of the workshops that we will be having of really understanding what the community wants, because it's not what we want, it's really what the residents in that area and generally Montebello want to see. And we've been really, I would say intentional, our staff has worked so hard to actually purchase properties alongside THE BOULEVARD TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE A SPACE FOR US TO BUILD UPON. FOR A LONG TIME THESE PROPERTIES SAT EMPTY. THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY PROPERTY OWNERS THAT DIDN'T HAVE A VISION. AND IT'S VERY RARE WHEN A COMMUNITY, WHEN A CITY IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY AND ACTUALLY BEGIN BUILDING A PLAN WHEN IT COMES TO OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTIES ALONG A CENTRAL AREA LIKE DOWNTOWN MONTBELLO. It's taken a lot of years, a lot of effort, a lot of thought partnership with staff, and now that we have identified, have purchased those properties, moving forward with creating a vision alongside our community is now the next step before anything gets realized. So just wanted to share those comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes, Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Yes, yeah, again, just to reiterate what my colleagues have said, we did meet with prime store several times and I do feel really good about working with them just as a council member for all the stated. They do a lot of community engagement. They hands on workshop. Yes, I did. I really did love that because I'm a very hands-on person. And so being able to learn that way, that's what works best for me. And I appreciate that. So I hope that the community takes this opportunity for the workshops that they do provide and they attend them. They're vocal about what they want because as my other colleagues have said, it's not what we want, it's what the community wants. And the key in this item is it says potential redevelopment. So This is still very early on in the stages, and there's so much potential of what this can be. It could be whatever we'd like it to be. So this is our opportunity to say, hey, look, this is what we want. We don't want this. We do want these things. And I'm excited about this opportunity. It's definitely needed in our community. And this is going to be great for Montebello. So I'm just very excited about this.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. So along the same lines, really, it was as late as in May when we met with Prime Store. And they, I can tell you also that they have specific staff, that that's all they do. They do community outreach. And when they explain the process to us, that's where they start. They're going to start, they're going to do community meetings, they're going to do charrettes, they're going to do processes where they get input on what the community wants to see. So I concur with what my colleagues had said, that that is what they have told us. So with that, we'll take a motion and a second for this item.

I'll motion to approve.

I'll second.

So motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Council Member Melendez. So if we can call the vote.

Mayor Potem Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. And that item passes. Item number six, that's the approve of a resolution declaring the city's intention to establish the Montebello Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, the EIFD, to support public infrastructure and economic development investments. Do we have speakers for this item?

Yes, we do, Mayor.

We want to go with speakers first? Speaker first?

Yes. Yes? Okay.

We have Will Severo followed by Larry Salazar.

Hey, guys. I understand the process that you guys are trying to do on this. However, I think... Considering the company that's going to be doing this from Larry Cosman, I believe it was, he has more to gain than the city. And he even mentioned that there was multiple other cities that were trying to go for these funds. LA County is already struggling. That's why they had to put a measure ER so they could fund things. I believe it's Laverne that also went into this and they put out a letter saying that they didn't get as much as they anticipated. WE COULD HAVE THEY COULD HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT HAVING AN EFID AND I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT NOW WHERE WE DON'T HAVE TO LOCK OURSELVES INTO ANYTHING WE DON'T HAVE TO BE PAYING THIS THIRD PARTY ANYTHING. MICHAEL'S BEEN A REALLY GOOD JOB AT THE FINANCES. PALUMBI HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD AT BUILDING AND SO HAS CESAR ROLAN AS FAR AS GOING TO PUBLIC WORKS WHERE I THINK WE CAN DO IT IN HOUSE WITHOUT HAVING TO USE THEM. IF YOU KNOW THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT BONDS IN THE FUTURE WHICH AGAIN COSMONT WILL BENEFIT FROM. WHEN HE WAS A CITY ADMINISTRATOR HERE BEFORE, HE WAS CONSTANTLY TRYING TO PUSH BRIDGE LOANS. AND I JUST DON'T LIKE THAT PROCESS. I THINK WE CAN DO IT WITHOUT THIS, AND IF WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE JUST DOING LOW INCOME HOUSING, I'M PRETTY SURE WE CAN STILL GET THOSE FUNDS WITHOUT HAVING TO GO INTO THIS, IF THAT'S THE MAIN FOCUS. HOWEVER, I DO THINK THAT IF WE WERE TO DO AN EFID, AND THIS STILL GOES PAST, I believe that we need to work on the sewer system because it's 70 years old. And on Los Angeles area, a lot of residents are complaining that they are collapsing and having problems. If you're going to inundate that area with more housing, you have to be able to take care of the infrastructure so it can have that issue. With the Cesar Chavez Foundation, you have prostitution, drug use, and gangs activity there where there's robberies and holdups that have taken place at Angry Horse. THOSE ARE PROBLEMS THAT WE ALSO NEED TO BE ADDRESSING, AND AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THE EFID WILL BE TAKING CARE OF ANY OF THOSE THINGS. IF IT PASSES, PLEASE FOCUS ON THE INFRASTRUCTURE MORE SO. I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY FOR THE PARKING STRUCTURE, WHICH I'M ALL FOR, HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, THAT PARKING STRUCTURE AND THOSE BUSINESSES, IT'S GOING TO CONTINUALLY COLLAPSE THE SEWER SYSTEM THAT'S ALREADY AGING.

THANK YOU.

Next speaker is Larry Salazar followed by Ray Bergier.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. My name is Larry Salazar and I'm here to speak on agenda item six regarding the city's intention to establish the Montebello Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District. I'm concerned about so much of this proposal and we'll begin by stating the obvious goal here, which is to allow the EIFD to replace the now infamous redevelopment agency. This version is no different with regards to the type of issues that can be covered by this new entity. First and foremost, the use of the term acquisition. Those of us who fought eminent domain in this city know what this word really means. It comes down to taking private property from owners who are not interested in selling. The EIFD will decide they want the property. They'll offer to purchase at a low price that they will call fair market value. However, it is not fair, especially to a property owner that is not interested in selling. This is the abuse the redevelopment agencies participated in, and it can't be allowed in Montebello, ever. Next are the boundaries stated as Washington, Whittier, and Beverly Boulevards. Every property owner on these streets should be extremely concerned about being targeted by the EIFD. Another concern as well is that these targeted streets can be easily changed to anywhere within the city limits, which leads me to question if this is actually a way of circumventing the public wishes and including the golf course area on Garfield Avenue. Another concern is the mention of public housing. Where in the city do we currently have space for public housing? So there again, are you looking at the golf course and working with a quiet cannon owner for that and retail and apartments that was discussed right here not too long ago? Another concern is the use of taxpayer dollars by the EIFD. Here we go again. The city is asking us to trust that you know better how to spend our money. And if some of your friends benefit from this proposal, well, so be it. Members of the city council, why is the city manager promoting this to you? I think he needs to go back and review the history of this city with regards to propositions like this. Also, four of you are up for reelection just four months from now. Are you sure you want to hand your opposition a controversial issue like this to use in their campaigns? Every one of you will be forced to discuss the issues I raised and answer why you support, among other things, eminent domain. You're getting bad advice from the city manager. In conclusion, council members, by virtue of vote or appointment, you work for the people. And Mr. City Manager, because our taxpayer dollars pay your salary, you work for me. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Ray Bregeer followed by Denise Agopian.

My name is Ray Bregeer and I kind of got in this on the late side And I've been through something similar to this with the eminent domain issue, what, maybe 20-some years ago, 30 years ago, whatever. And the word acquisition, I know you don't get an answer when you come up here to talk, but acquisition, to me, if you don't play ball with what the city wants... then they're going to acquire your acquisition, your property, which is eminent domain. I've been totally against eminent domain from day one. I strongly think that this is a backdoor way into it. This is what's going to happen. I'm opposed all the way to it. And if we have to have it, where it comes to another battle like we had years ago, And your city attorney, Arnold Glassman, knows full hand that we, there was a battle back then. And I don't want to see this come up, but I want to know acquisition. Somebody from the city call me tomorrow, this is my request, and tell me what the word acquisition means, exactly means. Because the way I interpret it, It's eminent domain taking private property from private people that own it themselves. This is America. You're allowed to own your own property without the government or the worry of the government doing an acquisition of your property. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Denise Egopian, followed by Marila Desma.

So I realize that you want to build a parking lot and you need more land, and who are you gonna get it from? I've heard that Salvatore's is being forced to move. Is that true? Is it not true? Do they wanna move? Not from what I hear. So this is now pressuring a small business who've been there for 45 plus years to make a life-changing decision because another business wants a parking lot. I read the dynamics. Washington, Beverly Boulevard, Whittier Boulevard, raising taxes 12% to 15% in the next couple years. Why are you raising Washington Boulevard 10% or 15% when the whole street is going to change with the train? You're raising it 10 years prior to the need. I don't know what that sounds like to you, but to me that sounds like you're building a project and you're gonna be spending money for something else and not on Washington Boulevard. So why are the property taxes raising? What are you developing on those streets? I understand what you want to do on Whittier Boulevard, but what are you doing on Beverly? Why are you affecting those businesses? Raising taxes 12 to 15 percent will raise the costs for every business on that street. You will be putting those small businesses out of business because those property owners are not going to pay your tax increase. They're going to pass it along to their tenants and then their tenants are going to have to raise their prices and then their customers are going to go to Walmart and not to a small business. Look at the bigger picture. If you need Whittier Boulevard, work just on Whittier Boulevard and don't increase everything else. Be more transparent about what your real goal is. Okay, the mixed-use projects. If you raise property taxes on a business property, what happens if there's an apartment above it? You raise their property taxes too? Property taxes, you can only increase an apartment rent 7.4% per year. Oh, but you're raising it 12% on the landowner. So how can he pass that along? You're not going to get more apartments built if you put the pressure on the property owner to increase apartments because they're not going to do it. They're not going to build mixed use projects that are going to lose money because you've increased the property taxes. You're not looking at the long term project. the future way of pressuring businesses is the new eminent domain and we don't want it here in Montebello. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Marie Ledesma. Mayor, that does conclude all spirit cards for this agenda item.

Okay.

So actually following the speakers, we do have a presentation for this item.

Yes, Mayor. Presentation is being given by Jose Joe Diaz from Cosmon and Associates.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, Joe Diaz here with Cosmon, pleased to be with you. Very helpful to hear public comment, by the way. I think if it pleases the council, I can address some of the very important issues raised. In our opinion, we think they're quite worthy of addressing and clarifying. So this is all a conversation about an infrastructure funding and financing tool. The city was successful in achieving a grant. So all work to date, work going forward on this is fortunately being paid for by another entity, not by the city. That entity is the Southern California Association of Governments, or SCAG. And I should comment on the procurement process. We're very pleased to be selected by SCAG. That procurement process was absolutely managed by SCAG. There is a bench of consultants that SCAG maintains. We're privileged to be on that. There was an interview process that we were very happy to go to, to ultimately be selected. We think we were selected because of our experience in this world of infrastructure financing across the state. I'll talk more about that in our kind of introductory materials.

And I'm very pleased to be doing that.

This type of tool, this so-called Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, or EIFD, is a way for cities and counties in California to pay for things, infrastructure, water, sewer, roads, parks. There's a list that I will be prepared to go through. Very importantly, what this is and what it isn't. This is not a new tax. This is not an increase in tax. Property owner, a business owner, a renter within a financing district sees no difference on their property tax bill with or without this district in place. The way these things work is as an allocation of future revenues within the existing tax rates by the city, by any other entity that voluntarily agrees to participate, and it's for a specific duration of time. No encumbrance of existing revenues, nothing that the city receives today in terms of property tax or other revenues can even be touched. This is an allocation of future revenues within a specific boundary. So we'll talk about that.

Kind of the punchline here.

We're talking about sort of a present value range around $90 million. That's what's that's what we're talking about here up to $90 million that would be available over time to pay for things again, infrastructure. The city could do something like this on its own, if it desired. We argue that cities see much more bang for your buck if you're able to achieve a partnership with another taxing entity, such as the County of Los Angeles. Those bring in net new dollars for projects within the community that would otherwise be spent elsewhere, outside of the city limits. And so we'll talk about precedent for city-county partnerships. The action for consideration by the council tonight is a non-binding action. We consider this sort of a baby step forward in a process. This resolution of intention signals the city's desire to advance, again, within the scope of all the grant-funded work. A next step subject to the council's direction would be discussions with the county about potential partnership. Again, still not binding. The city would not be making any binding decisions until the city had commitment from the county to be your partner or not. And then we'll talk about more how that process unfolds over time. Very importantly, apologies for belaboring it, but it's such an important point. It's worth repeating. Nothing about this is a new tax. We often use a retirement account analogy. There's a specific boundary being discussed today. And what we're talking about is within that specific boundary, about 200 and some odd acres. As the assessed values grow over time, as private sector investment comes in for either brand new ground up or just rehabilitation of underutilized properties, values go up. As values go up, the city has the opportunity to allocate a piece of the future property tax revenue specifically from those properties and allocate into a separate fund, a restricted fund that could only be used for eligible uses like infrastructure and affordable housing. Again, the city could do it on its own, but like an employer matching an employee's retirement account analogy, the county could match you, the city, dollar for dollar. The county has a policy for guiding its decision on whether or not to partner with the city. We've done that. This county happens to be the most willing among all 58 counties in the state to be partnered to cities so we can talk about some precedent. And all of that is for a fixed period of time, up to 50 years. Key things, very importantly, I think it was appropriately mentioned within the public comment that there are some similarities to the old redevelopment agencies in California. That's absolutely true. This is a tax increment financing district. That basic set of mechanics is the way this works. You're apportioning a piece of future property tax dollars That's probably where the similarities end. And then we can talk more about some differences. Some of that starts with the governance. This would not be an entity that's just managed by the city council. A new Brown Act legal entity does get set up. It's called the Public Financing Authority. The composition of that body varies. If you are in a scenario of partnership with the county, that body would have membership from both the city council as well as the county board of supervisors. And very differently from the old redevelopment agencies, you also have members of the public that sit on that governing board, that public financing authority board. In the scenario of partnership, what we're used to seeing is the city could appoint a member of the public. The county could also appoint a member of the public. but it's required that the majority of the folks on that board are elected from either the city or the county, and in any scenario, at least two members of the public. That entity's first job is to put together a business plan. This is another important difference from the old redevelopment agencies. This business plan is called an infrastructure financing plan, and it's required to be quite clear about what are you going to do with the money, how much money, What are the impacts on the city general fund, on the county general fund, of anyone that's participating? And what does that look like over time? And that plan is required to be presented relentlessly transparently over a series of public meetings and hearings that are noticed by mail, by newspaper, by website. They're spaced out at least 30 days apart. There will be at least four meetings. And what you're doing is, again, deliberately being very clear, nowhere to hide on what are you going to do with the money? What's the business plan? And... at the end of those public meetings and hearings, there's not a vote. There's not a vote, because this is not an increase in anybody's taxes. But what there is is a majority protest opportunity, allowing any residents or landowners within the financing district boundary to protest. And anything could be protested. The specific business plan, the concept of tax increment financing, the process by which the thing was put together, the consultant that was chosen, literally anything could be protested. And if it reaches that majority threshold, Even if the city council wanted to do it, even if the county board of supervisors wanted to do it, you can't if there's a protest. So there's a theme of checks and balances, and it was very deliberate on the part of the state legislature to be different from the old redevelopment agencies to avoid some of the mistakes that those agencies made, which is part of why they were dissolved back in 2012. Another key difference is what you can pay for. So back in the days of redevelopment across California, you saw things like big box retail, auto malls, golf courses, massage parlors, all sorts of businesses, private, paid for with the RDAs. Those are excluded, not even eligible for funding this time around. This is an infrastructure and affordable housing tool. Another very important point, eminent domain, not allowed. Eminent domain used to be allowed with redevelopment agencies. This law, the EIFD law, excludes, prohibits, does not allow the ability of eminent domain. EIFDs can't use eminent domain. Very clear in the law. Even if they wanted to, not allowed in the law. The term acquisition in the EIFD law means if there is a willing seller, private or public, willing to sell their land, this agency can help fund the acquisition of that land. And if it's acquired, it can only be used for an eligible use in the law. Something on the page here has to be acquired for water or sewer or park or childcare or a library. It can't be acquired and then resold to like a private developer to do some mixed income or market rate housing. Not allowed. Again, very important difference from the old redevelopment agency days. And it was a very important point that was raised. So I thought worth addressing. So common themes, about 38 of these formed across the state. We'll show a map in a moment. Two common themes are return on investment and being more attractive for other people's money. I'm just putting it very bluntly. The first point on return on investment is we're not seeing any city or county go down this path if your general fund is not better off for it. that you're not catalyzing a level of investment that would happen otherwise or happen as fast or as intensely without this district in place and without that catalytic infrastructure being paid for. So a lot of it is dollars and cents, general fund, fiscal impact. return on investment aside from that yeah there are themes of things like job creation wage creation affordable housing production those are important benefits but we're seeing sort of first and foremost as it makes sense on a dollar dollars and cents basis that is the most common theme the second one is less obvious being more attractive for other people's money this state is unique you have a state set of offices like housing community development parks and recs water resources They're giving cities and counties more points on their grant application scoring rubrics for cities and counties that use explicitly these sets of tools. The state agencies are recognizing that for a city to sort of tie up or earmark any piece of future property tax that would otherwise be unrestricted general fund dollars, that is a big ask. It's a big thing for a city to do or for a county to do. And for that, the state is saying, okay, if you're willing to do that, we are more willing to grant you our dollars, our state grant funding. So you're getting, as an example, the Housing and Community Development Grants, three more points on their pro-housing scoring rubric if a city or county uses this type of tool specifically. So that's the theme of just being more attractive for other money. So where is it being done? I mentioned about 38 of these formed across the state. So many contexts. Cities doing this alone. Counties doing this alone in unincorporated jurisdiction. Ten of the 38 so far are city-county partnerships. And what may be obvious in looking at this map is a concentration in the county of Los Angeles. We believe a significant reason for that is the willingness of this county to be a partner to the city's and be that employer matching the employee's retirement account analogy. This county was the first in the state back in 2018 to adopt a policy. Actually, I think we have a slide on it that says, here are the boxes that need to be checked if we, the county, are going to be a partner to you, city, in specifically this type of financing district. And so it started with Laverne back in 2020. Now it's Palmdale, Carson, Lakewood, Norwalk. Currently in process are Artesia, Downey, Santa Fe Springs, Pasadena, Long Beach. And so this, we're seeing more and more of these, and it has been working. Fortunately, we've been seeing, it started with Laverne in 2022. They did about $4 million for E and 2nd Street streetscape improvements in their Old Town Laverne specific plan. Fortunately, we're seeing it. That's just Los Angeles County and many more across the state. So various contexts, it's highly customized by the jurisdiction, but it's the city county partnership, which is the sort of the biggest bang for your buck if you're a city. So the map, a lot of work as part of the SCAG grant funded work went into defining a potential boundary for what this could look like. Even the original application to SCAG, which obviously occurred before our firm was involved, was focused on what were known as transformational corridors, right? Beverly Whittier in Washington. And the idea is, sure, you can put your whole city in one of these financing district boundaries, but there's risk with that. A dollar that's in this financing district from the city is a dollar that's not in your general fund that is available to fund the day-to-day. And so there's a balancing act here. You gotta be as focused as possible, sort of take what you need to generate enough dollars to make the thing worth doing, to generate enough dollars to pay for things, but not over-encumber your general fund and limit what's available for those day-to-day operating expenses. So what was arrived at is this 230 acres, about four point, a little shy of 5% of the city in terms of acreage, focused around those corridors, includes them all, and aligns highly with your general plan and housing element. Where is the city's planning and land use guidance trying to facilitate the growth and let's focus on just those areas because very importantly very very importantly with these districts. The way you draw the boundary governs where you're collecting dollars from where the growth is being captured but it does not govern where the dollars can be spent. That's counterintuitive. Dollars can be spent outside of these boundaries as long as there's some tangible benefit to the properties within it. So again, if you're in the boundary, nothing's changing about your tax bill. You really wouldn't know if you're in the district or not, but it's that the city and potentially the county is taking some piece of the growth within this boundary and reinvesting it into a preselected list of infrastructure projects. So I'll talk more about outreach in a moment, but so far we're sort of keeping a list going of what could be eligible for funding by this district tool, very far from being set in stone. We've done a lot of discussions on the staff level across departments, and then we've done a series of both in-person and virtual public workshops. I will talk more specifically about those. Six common themes that are coming up, things that could be, should perhaps be on the list at the city council's direction for where the dollars from this district would go. parking enhancements, parks and rec, streetscape, affordable housing, fire and public safety improvements, cultural community centers. These are common themes. Our goal, perhaps the city's goal could be throughout this process to keep the list going, get it to a point where the council is happy with what's on this list. And it's a long-term district. So we actually would encourage some flexibility and perhaps erroring on the side of being broad and not being too narrow because it is a long-term financing district. This is just what we're hearing so far. We're calling this an initial partial list. Dollars and cents. I don't want to belabor it. I would like to give it some justice, though. Nothing about tonight's action is like selecting a letter or selecting a dollar amount or percentage. That is not at all a decision that's being made tonight. But just letting the council and the public know that part of the evaluation under the SCAD grant has looked at WHAT ARE SOME SCENARIOS THAT THE CITY AND THE COUNTY CAN DO IF YOU DID MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS? THE CITY IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL OF HOW MUCH OF THE FUTURE GROWTH WOULD BE ALLOCATED TO THIS FINANCING DISTRICT WITH THE REMAINDER FLOWING TO THE GENERAL FUND UNINCUMBERED. WE GENERALLY SEE THIS RANGE OF BETWEEN A QUARTER AND HALF OF THAT GROWTH. NO PORTION OF TODAY'S DOLLARS BUT OF THE GROWTH OF PROPERTY TAX JUST WITHIN THAT BOUNDARY somewhere between a quarter and half of the growth. And again, in scenarios C and D, city gets most bang for its buck if you're getting a match from someone else, like the county, doubling the money, like a dollar for dollar match. So generally, what are we talking about? Within five years, you know, three to six million dollars is what we think is reasonable. Within 10 years, between 9 and 18 million. That's what we think in the first 10 years. As values grow over time, the dollars can be accessed as the value grows. You can't form this thing and immediately issue a bond based on what Cosmon or anybody else thinks is going to be the growth. The growth needs to happen. You need to have a demonstrated revenue stream. And once that revenue stream is demonstrated, only then could you do like a bond in year five based on actual year five revenues, not on a projection. So that's the good news. You can't get over your skis. The bad news is patience. You don't want to oversell expectations here that you can form this and pay for some massive whatever park or water and sewer improvement this is a tool in the toolkit that oftentimes needs other tools in the near term for cash flow reasons whether that's a private sector advance or a grant or something else this is not going to be the fastest money this is a sort of mid to longer term tool it's very important point from an expectation setting perspective Not to belabor it, I mentioned the county has a policy. If the council were comfortable moving forward with this non-binding action tonight, we think a very important next step for the council's consideration would be to further vet that potential for county partnership. Cosmont's opinion, having done this, most of these across the state, I mentioned 38, we've done 24 of the 38. This proposal as currently drafted is very appealing, very much in alignment with the county's policy. We think you check their boxes. The outreach needs to happen. It's never a guarantee. We do think so far, thanks to staff's work on this, that this is looking good for partnership. Just an opinion from Cosmo. Return on investment is evaluated a number of different ways. I did talk about dollars and cents. That's honestly where we spend most of our time. But pursuant to the law, we also spend a great deal of time evaluating things like job creation, wage creation, housing production. So we see several measures of return on investment that we think would make this feasible in addition to making the community more attractive for other people's money, especially state grants. Just another illustration of when we say return on investment, are you better off for doing it than if you're not doing it? If we do nothing and things are going to grow and produce revenue, that's great. And if you look better in that scenario than if you didn't do this, we'd say don't do this. Doesn't make sense. Don't encumber any dollars if you don't have to. But when we make what we think are very conservative set of projections, completely in alignment with general plan and land use guidance, we think that catalytic investment and infrastructure can create a scenario that your general fund looks better than it would otherwise. I mentioned outreach. I think there are some highlights. I mentioned in-person and virtual meetings, March and April, more recently in June, both in-person and virtual formats. 12 attendees at the first, in-person one, 34 attendees in April at the virtual one, and then our most recent one on June 11. We had nine, it was hybrid, so we had both in-person and virtual participation, nine in-person and eight virtual. I'd say we are happy that it has been a very engaged process. We are getting lots of very good questions, hard questions, to be honest with you, but we think they are the right questions. on accountability, on transparency, on process, on risk. And all of that was supported with a range of email outreach, social media outreach, phone outreach, business outreach. And that's sort of beyond the requirement of the law. I talked about the law requiring a set of public meetings and hearings and notices. This is outside of those requirements, even before you get to that point. SCAG, this grant funder, likes to see a lot of outreach. So they dedicated a lot of the grant to our community outreach firm that's on our team called Ariano Associates that I think did a really great job with this outreach. Common themes. Folks want to understand how it works. This is from the outreach process. How does it work? What's the governance? What's the oversight? How are public members chosen? When and how does the community engage, not just in this initial feasibility analysis process, but throughout the potential implementation? And even beyond that, future years, what's the annual reporting? And by the way, there is an annual reporting and public accountability process required by the law. These all have been very good questions that have been raised. We've put together a calendar of how this could look moving forward. Just to be very honest, much of this is driven by the SCAG grant. It has a timeline. It has been extended, actually. It was originally June. We have it extended through December now. We do think it's enough time. We had certainly a cause that would never want to rush the city. It's just a matter of the SCAG money being available if you want to use that time. where very much in A and B, this action tonight is letter C, where you're taking this non-binding action potentially, considering it the resolution of intention. If you do, the next step would be, could the county adopt a companion resolution of intention to be your partner? Generally, that's been the process in this county. If the city takes the action, then the county would typically like to do it within a matter of months to give a clear signal to the city on whether you're alone in it or not. And then everything through letters E through I are that public meeting and hearing process where you're drafting that business plan, you're vetting it very publicly over that series of meetings and hearings. We think December could be a feasible completion timeline in alignment with that SCAD grant. And certainly if the city decided to slow it down more, obviously you control the process. It works on your clock. It would just be a matter of the SCAD grant funding. So that really does conclude the presentation. I'd be very happy to address questions from the council tonight. That non-binding resolution of intention, if the council did want to proceed, we are suggesting a good next step being some county outreach to figure out whether they have interest in being your partner. Thank you, Madam Mayor and members of the council.

Thank you, appreciate your presentation and the answer to those questions. So any comments or questions from council? Council Member Peralta.

Yeah, just general comment and then just question. First of all, thank you to folks that came up today to just speak regarding concerns. Long are the days of just what happened in the past when it came to eminent domain. And I know that that's a really, I would say, sour point in terms of just issues that Montebello faced in the past. So I appreciate you really addressing the fact that eminent domain is not allowed in this process. If in the future, right, a property owner decides to sell a property that is at their discretion and at their choice. So the city here is not in, I will say, the business with this effort of taking anyone's land or doing eminent domain in the city of Montebello. as well as just addressing the concerns regarding tax increases or property taxes. This is not a tax increase. This does not raise property taxes for businesses along the boundaries of these districts. And I would say that I definitely understand why people are concerned. These have been issues that were caused by other similar types of financing tools in the past, but because the state has now, I would say, revised and heavily regulated how to better use these tools to better assist cities when it comes to future infrastructure projects. That is why I will say I appreciate today's presentation when it comes to just making sure that we are being transparent, making sure that we are answering hard questions and making sure that we're sharing factual information when it comes to these concerns is a priority. I do appreciate, you did answer one of my questions in terms of not only the multiple public hearings, the opportunities to protest, the different opportunities for engagement. just within the creation of this district, but even after the fact, right? Annual reporting, so ensuring that this district comes back in terms of what's being spent, how much revenue have we accumulated is important in terms of just the accountability mechanism. I did have a question. And so I caught that you said in terms of just revenue accumulated, revenue has to be accumulated before we actually bond or commit towards a specific project. And so I think this might answer, maybe if you can help expand. I know that there have been questions around this. We're looking at projected growth, what happens the next 5, 10, 15, 20 years. what was to happen, for example, if the city of Montebello, or let's just say we have some sort of fiscal crisis, budget strains, right? We don't know where the economy goes 10 years down the line. At that point, what is our are we bounded and committed in terms of that funding that we've essentially put aside? Or how does the city essentially protect itself from situations like that?

Thank you, Council Member. I'd say there's two scenarios for that, the question that was just laid out. Let's say you're in a scenario where you formed it, maybe you're still one, two, three, four years out after formation, and then God forbid, some natural disaster happens or some fiscal emergency happens and you need all your money. In that scenario, what the law outlines is kind of a dissolution process. For those who have lived through redevelopment agency dissolution, that part will feel familiar. At that point, you likely would not have yet made any encumbrances, any debt issuances. It's early in the district's lifetime. You would basically close up shop. Any dollars that have been received and not spent on eligible process would be returned to the city and county proportionally based on what has been allocated from each entity. And you close the thing up, shop closed, hopefully no harm done, not much harm done. But that would be the scenario in that case. I would call the worst scenario, perhaps longer, maybe five, six, seven years out. And maybe you have in year five or year six issued a bond. Now you have an enforceable obligation. You've got to honor that commitment. And so what would happen in that case, you could say, well, got to keep paying this bill maybe that's a 30-year bond payment so you have whatever that is maybe 700,000 a year you've got to honor that for 30 years but what you would do at that point is say nothing else that's all I'm going to do no more obligations any additional revenue accrued beyond what is needed to serve that $700,000 annually we're going to pay back to our city general fund to our county general fund based on what's been accumulated those would be the two scenarios.

Yeah, no, I do appreciate that, because I was going to ask in terms of, is there, I don't want to use the word clawback, but suspension, right, of project funding in case the city was to face a budget or some sort of fiscal distress, no longer, or in that way, temporarily suspending the funding that's being used for the EIFD to ensure that we essentially can get through whatever situation we might be in that later down the line. So I do appreciate just the mechanisms that are in place in terms of protecting the city in case we were to go through something like that, as this is obviously a long year or multiple year commitment that we would be making. I will say a comment in terms of, you know, the city is always looking towards how can we match funding? How can we leverage our funding? How can we get funding from other sources, whether it's nonprofits, organizations, county, the state, federal funding. And we always look to our county as well in terms of just how we can take advantage of opportunities to receive funding from them. And I will say this is the tool that, Especially district two, we borderline East LA, which is part of our supervisorial district one. And there have been a lot of issues when it comes to our roads, issues when it comes to shared infrastructure. And so I know it's been difficult to receive funding from them because obviously the priority is not there when it comes to just that regional collaboration at that level. of need, this is an opportunity here to take advantage of the fact that the county is open to matching funding when it comes to long-term capital improvement projects. And I think for us, it's really important to be able to to leverage that and to be able to take, I will say, advantage of that, because now it's no longer just using a projected growth that comes from the city of Montebello, but also being able to, I will say, dip into the pockets of the county, right, and use their funding to help the city grow as well. Lastly, I will say that I know there were concerns regarding THERE WERE CONCERNS REGARDING JUST HOW THIS IS BEING PAID FOR, AS WELL AS THE FIRM, COSMONT. I DO APPRECIATE SCAG WHO ACTUALLY FUNDED THIS PROCESS AND HAS BEEN FUNDING THE WORK THAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN DOING. AND I WILL SAY, IN TERMS OF 24 OUT OF 38, YOU ALL HAVE BEEN LEADING WHEN IT COMES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE INFRASTRUCTURE ENHANCEMENT DISTRICTS. You are actually very well known in the region when it comes to the specialization and uniqueness of this type of work. I've seen you all at different regional summits, panels, conferences, beyond just what you do locally with local cities, but more so in terms of just economic development as a whole. So I do appreciate your expertise. I appreciate you tackling these really difficult questions head on and just how intentional you've also been about community engagement and really educating council here today. So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Melendez.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the presentation. I'd like to actually ask staff just... Maybe this question addressed directed at Director Solorza. When I start hearing like bonds and I know our bond capacity is a little, you know, we bonded for a lot of things. So I just kind of want to see financially like for us to take on something like this. Just hearing your expertise and perspective on it.

Yeah, of course. And I've been involved in this process. Joe brought me in and working with the team there. So, you know, giving input in terms of what I feel the general fund can give up, you know, in future years with this growth. So when it comes to bond financing, just to reiterate what Joseph was saying, it It's not like the EIFD gets formed and then six months later we can issue bonds. We really do need to see what's being accumulated and to see what's flowing into the EIFD to see what the capacity is there. The good news is our bonding ability does increase because there is dedicated funding set aside if that's what we choose, to bond against it. So what you're looking at is a dedicated stream of future revenue that says, oh, we can see, now that we've been gathering revenue for five years, we can see, okay, every year we're going to get a million dollars. Okay, so now we can bond up to a million dollars in debt service. But that's why it takes a while to get to that point, because we need to see what the pattern is. We need to see what that growth is. And then we can start committing...

bonds and kind of work backwards from okay this is what we can afford from that growth and looking forward 45 50 years of what we can afford in annual debt service thank you for that and um thank you for that and i'll turn to our community development team and just kind of uh trying to understand is this something that um again just trying to go with your expertise something that um goal is aligned with what we're trying to do in these areas is something that will help expedite it. Just trying to hear from from you all to kind of get your perspective on this as well.

Yes, great question Councilmember. So we did identify areas where we do, where our general plan actually looks at future development and we believe, working with Michael and his group, that we sort of narrowed the focus to the areas where that development will occur in the future, which is really where the benefit comes from. And with regard to the EIFD, we can also use it as we talk about future projects, right? Because it gives us opportunities to leverage money that we would not necessarily have to have discussions with developers on different opportunities when it comes to projects. So that's also an opportunity through the EIFD.

Thank you for that. And, uh, and just to the speaker, I know we, we, um, um, there was a, you know, you discussed a public finance authority and the composition of the, um, the body, right. It's going to be, uh, some elected officials, but also some, the opportunity for some residents to participate in regards to like a protest. If somebody, um, there's something that they want to change as you discussed, is that just for the folks that are impacted in that area? Or is that, like the general public in the city of Montebello.

Thank you, council. Thank you, council member. While there are public Brown Act meetings and anyone can come and comment, when it pertains to the protest, it is limited to someone who either lives in the boundary and is registered to vote within the boundary or someone who owns property within the boundary. So you have to do either of those things, own property within the financing district boundary or be a resident within the boundary, registered to vote. Those are the folks who have the protest capacity.

I understand, but as any other meeting, somebody can come and speak on the item and, you know, voice their opposition or gather people here to oppose the project.

That's correct. Public Brown Act meetings open to the public.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. I'll move to Mayor Pro Tem Romero. Do you have any questions or comments on this item? Mayor Pro Tem. Can you repeat that again? I'm sorry.

I don't have any comments at this time.

Okay, great. Thank you. I do have a comment, but I do have a question. If you can go back to the map, I just want to see that area that was in the northernmost portion. And you had mentioned that that is the shops at Montebello. So does it incorporate? Yes, that one. So that's all the shops at Montebello. Does it incorporate any part of the Metro Heights area or just the shops? Do you know?

Just the shops. Director Palumni could correct me. Yeah, it's just the shops at Montebello.

Okay. And then my other question is, why would the shops at Montebello be included?

Sure, again, I'm happy to start and the staff can correct or supplement my answer. A lot of it was where your housing element was allocating potential for new development. And it was in the housing element that potentially some residential could show up on the shops. That's actually a trend Cosmonaut has seen across the state. Not only are cities allocating potential residential capacity on these shopping centers, but it actually makes sense from a market perspective and also from a traffic perspective that that's where housing can show up. So it's, again, long-term district. Your housing element's a 20-year plan. This district is similarly long-term, 10, 20-plus years. So we thought there is some value that can be captured.

Thank you. And then you did answer the question, but it was if there is improvement or something that's outside of that area, that can happen, correct?

That's correct, Mayor, as long as there's some benefit within the boundary. The boundary, okay.

Okay, great. That answers my question. But so this marks an important step forward for the city of Montebello. The EIFD is a powerful tool that allows cities to capture future tax increment revenue and reinvest it right here in Montebello. I think this forward-thinking, fiscally responsible approach to funding the infrastructure improvements our residents and businesses deserve from streets and utilities to economic development opportunities will create jobs and strengthen our local economy. So I look forward to the public hearing process where our community will have the opportunity to weigh in. And I'm excited what this holds for the future of Montebello. So thank you.

Thank you.

So with this, I'll take a motion and a second on this item.

I'll motion to approve the item.

I'll second.

A motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Council Member Melendez. If you can call the vote.

Mayor Proctor-Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. That item passes and it takes us to number seven.

Yes, Mayor. This is the item number seven, adopt resolution number 26-52, approving a memorandum of understanding between the City of Montebello and the Montebello Police Management Association. We do not have a presentation, but we are available to answer any questions the council may have.

Are there any questions on this item? Any questions? Mayor Pro Tem, any questions? We are on item number seven. Okay, with no questions, I'll go ahead and take a motion and a second on this item. I'll make the motion.

I'll second. I'd like to make a motion.

We have the motion, Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you. So we had the motion by Councilmember Melendez and the second by Councilmember Peralta. We could call the roll.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye. Aye.

Councilor Peralta.

Aye.

Councilor Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. And that item passes. On to number eight.

Yes, item number eight is adopt urgency ordinance number 2495, establishing a temporary I don't have my microphone on. Item number eight is adopt urgency ordinance number 2495, establishing a temporary moratorium on Senate Bill 79, development applications within the Washington Boulevard transit-oriented development-specific plan area pursuant to government code section 65858. Giving a presentation on this item is Director of Planning, Joseph Palombi.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager, again, good evening. Madam Mayor, members of the council, item eight before you tonight pertains to Senate Bill 79 or SB 79, which is scheduled to take effect July 1st of this year. SB 79 establishes statewide transit-oriented development standards for eligible housing projects by providing allowable height, density, and residential floor area ratios that supersede local zoning regulations. Although SB 79 was enacted in October of 2025, it was not until June 9th of this year where we attended a workshop through SCAG where we learned that the preliminary TOD maps and HCD's implementation guidance clarified how the law would apply to Montebello. That guidance confirmed that the city is subject to the full provisions of SB 79, creating the need to act quickly to preserve the status quo while completing the Washington Boulevard corridor transit oriented development specific plan or TOD specific plan. So the requested action tonight is the adoption of an urgency ordinance pursuant to government code section 658 establishing a temporary 45 day moratorium on certain development applications associated with SB 79. Again, the purpose of the moratorium is to preserve the status quo while staff continues preparation of the Washington corridor TOD specific plan and properly evaluates how SB 79 should be incorporated into the city's long-term planning framework. This temporary pause will provide the city with the necessary time to comprehensively address land use policies, development standards, infrastructure, public service capacity, mobility improvements, environmental review requirements, and implementation strategies for the Washington corridor, thereby protecting the public health, safety, and welfare of the community from the potential adverse impacts of premature piecemeal development, which could potentially happen under SB 79. Staff is also requesting direction to return to the city council with the progress report and recommendations regarding any necessary extension of the urgency ordinance consistent with government code section 65858. To provide some background, the city has been proactively planning for future growth along the Washington Boulevard corridor through the preparation of the TOD specific plan. This also is through a grant that we received from Caltrans in 2025 that allowed us to basically launch the TOD specific plan. This corridor is expected to be subject to the provisions of the Senate Bill 79 due to the planned Metro E line station at Greenwood Avenue and Washington Boulevard. SB 79 would allow cities to adopt a local transit-oriented development plan that may supersede the state's default development standards when certain statutory requirements are satisfied. The city is committed to preparing the TOD-specific plan, including the evaluation of land use, transportation, circulation, infrastructure, and utility capacity. This includes parking, housing opportunities, and environmental considerations. The proposed moratorium would allow this work to continue uninterrupted and ensure that any future development within the specific plan area is guided by a comprehensive locally adopted planning framework. The temporary moratorium is necessary to allow the city sufficient time to align the Washington corridor TOD specific plan with the new requirements of Senate Bill 79. Without this pause, the development applications could be submitted before corridor specific standards, policies and design guidelines are adopted, resulting in uncoordinated or piecemeal development. SB 79 could more than triple residential development capacity beyond levels analyzed in the Montebello 2040 general plan EIR, requiring further study of infrastructure service, transportation, and environmental impacts. The moratorium will allow the city to evaluate infrastructure capacity, public services, and again, transportation improvements, as well as environmental considerations. Most importantly, it will provide time to complete technical studies, community engagement and planning efforts so that SP 79 is incorporated into the TOD specific plan through a coordinated, transparent and comprehensive process. If approved, the urgency ordinance will take effect immediately and remain in place for 45 days. Staff will continue To review all the information available, return to the City Council in July of 2026 with the required 10-day report outlining actions taken during the moratorium period. During that time, staff will continue preparation of the Washington TOD specific plan, evaluate and incorporate applicable SB 79 requirements, and advance to the associated development standards. Staff will also continue technical studies, environmental review, and community outreach to ensure the corridor is planned in a comprehensive and coordinated manner, as previously mentioned. In closing, I just want to add that SP 79 establishes statewide development standards based primarily on proximity to transit, rather than the size, character, or capacity of individual cities. A city like Montebello with approximately 60,000 residents is subject to essentially the same framework as a city of several hundred thousand residents, despite having significantly different resources and planning needs. This concludes staff's presentation and I'm available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Palumby. Any questions from council? Oh yes, council member Melendez.

Thank you, Director Palumby for the presentation. Just one question. I'm in favor of this, but does this put us in any type of legal exposure with the state or just trying to see, you know, what potential consequences might come up, you know, after we take action on this item?

I will try to answer that question, but I'm going to look at Arnold as well. We have communicated with the city attorney and there is legal risk. We have also researched that there are 13 other jurisdictions in the state of California that are taking similar actions, two of which are including moratoriums for various reasons. We believe that this is the prudent thing to do at this time, especially considering that we've invested significantly in our TOD-specific plan, and any development that would come in under SB 79 would undermine that effort and really could potentially put the community in a difficult position. But I don't know if Arnold would like to add anything to that.

Madam Mayor, members of the City Council, the SB 79 does not specifically address the issue of moratorium. They imply that there are jurisdictional issues that HCD may exert. I guess the best way to respond to your question, Council Member, is with any action of this type, there's always the potential of litigation. And, but, you know, the overall, the overarching goal here is to protect and preserve a level of local control to protect the residents of the city of Montebello. And so, you know, I agree. Can't respond to the city council saying 100% guarantee there's not going to be potential for litigation or HCD action. But again, that is not completely authorized or clear in SB 79.

Thank you for the explanation. And just to understand the motion here, it would need a four-fifths because it's an urgent emergency ordinance. Then it would come back at a future meeting?

Yeah, a 45-day period, right? So we anticipate towards the last week of July that we do need to come back. It will be a special meeting with a 10-day report back to City Council.

So after today comes back 10 days?

No, no, towards the, we're anticipating the last week of July and it'll be a 10 day report. And then at that point, you know, we'll provide more information to council and it potentially could be extended beyond the 45 days.

Correct? That's correct. It would, the 10 day report, if we come back to council, it's approved, it will be a 10 month moratorium. Got it. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem, do you have any comments or questions on this item?

No comments.

Okay, great. We don't have any speakers on this item, but we do have some correspondence.

Yes, that's correct, Mayor. We do not have any speakers for this item, but our office did receive an email from Californians for home ownership. And their letter did state that they were opposed of this item. They did write that they urged the council to reject the proposed moratorium. And that was all the correspondence that we received for this item.

And that letter will be included as part of the public record.

Mr. City Manager, if I may, there was a second letter received late today. And I have a copy.

Yes, we did receive another one. And it was from Yimby Law, the executive director. Her name is Sandra Tross. I hope I'm pronouncing that correct. And it is in opposition for this item.

Okay.

You'll only receive those two emails for this item.

Thank you. Okay, great. Thank you, Mr. City Clerk. So if nothing further, I'll go ahead and take a motion and a second for this item.

I'll motion to approve.

We have a motion. I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Motion by Council Member Peralta. Second, Mayor Pro Tem. If we could call the roll.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Can you repeat that, please?

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo. Aye.

Aye. That item passes. Moving on to number nine.

Yes, Mayor. Item number nine is adopt resolution number 26-49, disruption policy and resolution number 26-50, public posting board policy, meeting outreach and acting Brown Act update pursuant to Senate Bill 707. Giving a presentation on this item is Kimberly Guillen, Director of City Clerk Services.

Thank you, City Manager. Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council, and members of the community. Today, I would like to provide a brief overview of the Brown Amendments established by Senate Bill 707, which became effective on January 1st of 2026. Now, although the legislation has been in effect since January, the provisions that we are discussing tonight will go into effect on July 1st of 2026. So I will be walking you through the key requirements of the new legislation, discuss how these changes will impact city council meetings, and review the policies and procedures that staff is recommending to ensure that the city remains in compliance. So the Brown Act is the California's open meeting law. Its purpose is to ensure government decision-making is conducted openly by providing public notice of meetings. That would be posting our agendas for regularly scheduled meetings 72 hours in advance. and for special meetings 24 hours in advance. Currently, the city is posting city council agendas on Thursdays the week before the meeting, allowing the public approximately six days to review agenda packets for regularly scheduled council meetings. The Brown Act also ensures public access to the meetings and encourages public participation. So what is Senate Bill 707 or SB 707? The purpose of Senate Bill 707 is to modernize the Brown Act meeting requirements. which means that Senate Bill 707 will now require hybrid public participation options for the public. It also expands language accessibility and a gender translation. And as I stated earlier, this law will go into effect on July 1st of 2026 and will sunset on July 1st of 2030. It is also important to note that these requirements apply specifically to city council meetings and do not extend to city commissions. So what are the key changes? Again, we'll be required to provide remote public participation options. The city council will need to adopt a technology disruption policy, translate the agendas, expand public outreach and notifications, and provide closed captioning requirements with the public participation tool that we use. So in the next couple of slides, I'll provide a brief overview of each requirement and outline how the city plans to implement these changes to comply with SB 707. So beginning July 1st of 2026, the public must be provided an opportunity to participate remotely through a two-way platform, such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Similarly, how Mayor Romero has joined tonight's meeting and can participate in real time. So for the month of July, we will be going dark. And so our first meeting that will provide remote participation for the public will be the first meeting in August. Instructions for accessing and participating in this meetings will be included in the city council agendas in addition to being posted on the city website. And lastly, the city clerk Jimenez and I will be providing an instructional video that we can post on the city website and social media. The Senate Bill 707 requires the city to adopt procedures for addressing internet or telephonic service disruptions that prevent the public from observing or participating remotely. But this policy would apply specifically to the platform that the city uses, not in situations where the participation's connection fails. So if a disruption occurs, the city clerk will notify the mayor or the presiding officer. Then the mayor would announce the disruption to the meeting attendees. The mayor would resist the meeting if necessary. And then if necessary, for up to an hour, or if service gets restored before that, then we would resume the meeting. SENATE BILL 707 EXPANDS LANGUAGE ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR LOCAL AGENCIES. UNDER THE LAW, AGENDA TRANSLATIONS ARE REQUIRED WHEN AT LEAST 20% OF A CITY'S POPULATION SPEAKS THE SAME LANGUAGE. BASED ON THE MOST RECENT CENSUS DATA, SPANISH IS THE ONLY LANGUAGE THAT MEETS THAT THRESHOLD FOR THE CITY OF MONTABELLA. AS A RESULT, THE CITY COUNCIL AGENDAS WILL BE TRANSLATED INTO SPANISH BEGINNING JULY 1ST OF 2026. The law does allow agencies to use an online translation system, which we will be using to translate our agendas, and then we will review the agenda for accuracy. Now, I do want to note that it's not the entire agenda packet that we will be translating, just the agenda itself. And then we'll continue to make language services available upon request. SB 707 requires local agencies to conduct public outreach to inform the community about the opportunities to participate in city council meetings. To meet this requirement, staff is recommending the continued use of the city's existing communication channels, including posting on the city website. We will also be updating the city website and including the instructions to participate remotely. We've used social media notices to provide notice of any time changes. Currently, we are also posting on the Montebello newsletter, which informs the public that the meetings are held on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month. Now, if the city council would like staff to utilize additional outreach methods, we would be happy to incorporate those into our implementation plan. And the last key change would be the public translation posting board. So Senate Bill 707 requires agencies to designate a location where members of the public may post translated versions of City Council agendas in the language of their choice. To meet this requirement, we are going to be using an existing bulletin board that's located in front of City Hall. There's a picture here of the bulletin board that we'll be using, and the third window, our public works department was able to assist us in removing the glass window, so now the board is accessible 24-7 to the public to post the translated agendas. Now, the bill does state that the cities are not responsible for translation accuracy. However, my team and I will be walking out there to check what is being posted. And those that we can understand, we will verify that it was translated correctly, that there's no profanity or incorrect information. In closing, staff is requesting that the City Council adopt Resolution 2649 with our Technology Disruption Policy, adopt Resolution 2650, our Public Agenda Translation Posting Board Policy, and receive and file the SB 707 Implementation Update. I am now available for questions.

Any questions on this item? Mayor Pro Tem, any questions on this item?

No, just thank you for the presentation. And yes, as you stated, it makes it a lot easier for me. I think this is my first room that I've attended. And I think this is great for the community that we've been able to attend as well. As a full-time working mom, it is hard to be able to attend meetings, but I'm able to make that work. But I know for a lot of other people, it is inconvenient. It's extremely difficult. And so they can still be able to attend. And I appreciate it. So this is something that I think has been needed in our programs.

Thank you, Maria Protem. So no speakers for this item. So I'll call for a motion and a second.

A motion to approve.

I have a motion.

I'll second.

And I have a second motion by Council Member Peralta. The second is by Mayor Pro Tem Romero, if we can call the roll.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. The item passes and takes us to number 10.

Yes, Mayor. Item number 10 is the top resolution number 2648, approving an amendment to the 2024-2027 Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Montebello and the Montebello Police Officers Association. We don't have a presentation, but we are happy to answer any questions.

Any questions on this item? No questions. Mayor Pro Tem, any questions on item number 10?

No questions.

All right. So with that, I'll call for a motion and a second.

I'll make a motion to approve.

I'll second.

So we have a motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Council Member Melendez. If we can call the roll.

Mayor Putnam-Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo. Aye.

Aye. And that takes us to consent calendar, Mr. City Attorney.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor and members of the City Council. We have consent agenda items. These are considered to be routine. We have items numbers 11 through 32. Let me first inquire if there's any public speaker cards and consent.

We have no speaker cards for consent calendar.

Thank you. Okay.

She spoke already about it.

I know, but I didn't connect it to number 18. I don't think he should be paid.

I think he should come back and fix the problems that he created.

So number 18 is part of the consent. So we want to call that item if we have a speaker.

Well, the speaker's already, you've already addressed the council on item 18? That's fine. We'll make sure that your comments are included in the minutes in item 18. Thank you.

Thank you. With that, I'll poll the council, starting with Mayor Pro Tem Romero, items 11 through 32.

Do you have any items that you wish to poll?

Item 31, please.

Repeat that again, please. Item 31. 31.

31, okay. Then moving on to, sorry. Moving on to Council Member Peralta. None. Thank you. Council Member Melendez?

No items.

Thank you. And Mayor Tamayo?

No items.

Thank you. So at this time, Madam Mayor, it would be appropriate to entertain a motion to approve consent agenda items numbers 11 through 32, with the exception of item 31.

I'll make a motion.

I'll second.

We have a motion by Council Member Melendez, a second by Council Member Peralta. We could call the roll.

Mayor Patel-Romero? No. Councillor Peralta? Aye. Council Member Melendez? Aye. Mayor Tamayo?

Aye. And that takes us to item 31.

Item 31 on the consent agenda, which is to approve professional services agreement number 4546 with Stafford Lights for City Hall lighting installation. And Mayor Pro Tem Romero, this is your item.

Yes, I just wanted to highlight this item and I'm excited to see this happen. I know a number of myself as well as other council members mentioned coming to other banners at City Hall. You know, there's Juneteenth, Autism Awareness, PTSD Month, numerous, numerous events that we celebrate all year long. And we'd like to be able to highlight those events in the month. So I'm excited to be able to see this at City Hall and that we can represent all of the things happening in our city and bring awareness to all of these causes. So this is something really great and I'm excited to see this.

Mayor, council members, it's late, but if we may, I think it'd just be important, David, can we just pull up the image so you can actually see what the, in theory, but she kind of covered in essence what we were trying to achieve with this item, but for the residents that are able to be online and community members here, we're trying to accomplish, if we can go back to the image, Similar to like you see in the city of LA, their city hall on a given day or occasion, they light up their city hall in that capacity. And so we're trying to achieve that. You see our regular meetings, we recognize a lot of things on a regular basis. So we would, in theory, be able to do that. And also, you know, we love our city hall, but it's also pretty, you know... I KNOW COUNCIL AND RESIDENTS HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE MORE COLORS SO I THINK THIS IS A GOOD MIDDLE GROUND. BUT IN ESSENCE THIS IS WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE IF COUNCIL APPROVED THIS ITEM.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU MR. CITY MANAGER.

NEW SPEAKER NO GO AHEAD. I am excited to see this because we don't want to leave anybody out, right? And so we don't want to bring awareness for one cause and not the other. And so we'd be able to be inclusive of all these causes and bring them to our community's attention. So I'm really excited about this. Thank you.

Council Member Peralta, you had.

Yeah, I'm really supportive of this. I would like to just acknowledge in the past, we did have a resident come, Priscilla, who is battling a form of breast cancer. And she had made the request to council about putting lighting at City Hall for the specific color that she had requested. And at the time, we obviously did not have this installed. And so I know that that was something that she had advocated for. I know other residents in the past have also advocated for just this type of just symbolic solidarity that we could give. And I think it also serves a different purpose as well. Sorry, it's getting late here. But I know that we have folks that do walking and running clubs and they meet at a central point. They use this area as a central point. Oftentimes when the time changes and it gets really dark, there's no lighting. So in terms of just safety as well, It serves that purpose. So thank you very much to city staff for bringing this item forward.

Okay, that concludes our comments and questions on 31. So I'll call for a motion and a second.

I'll motion to approve.

I'll second. I'll second. We'll give to Mayor Pro Tem. So it was a motion by Council Member Peralta, the second by Mayor Pro Tem Romero, and we'll call the vote on 31.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo. Aye.

Aye. That item passes. So we'll move on to AB 1234, travel reports. Anybody? Mayor Pro Tem, do you have any travel reports? And we have no Orals. So before I adjourn, I do want to let the public know that we are dark in July, so we will not be having meetings in July. And with that, oh, do we have any other public announcements?

Okay.

With that, we'll adjourn the meeting. Thank you. Have a great evening.