City Council - Regular Meeting

Council Member Peralta. Present. Council Member Melendez.

Here.

Council Member Alonzo.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Present.

Mayor Tamayo.

Here.

So that is four present and one joining us virtually. Mr. City Attorney, can you please announce closed session items?

Yes, let me first check. Is there any public comment cards for closed session? Thank you. Okay, we have two items that have been listed on the agenda for closed session, the Coalition for Clean Air and the Molinari matter. Madam Mayor, there's also one additional item that we'd ask to have the council consider to add to the agenda. This would be under conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, initiation of litigation in two matters. regarding that these items came up after the posting of the agenda and there's immediate need for the City Council to be brief and provide direction. We would need a motion to that effect and a second and a forfeits vote.

Okay, so we need a motion and forfeits vote.

I'll make a motion.

I'll second. So we have a motion and a second. We can call the roll, please.

Council Member Peralta? Aye. Council Member Melendez?

Aye.

Council Member Alonzo?

Aye.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero?

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo?

Aye.

And Madam Mayor, that item is also then added into closed session and will be discussed accordingly.

Okay.

It would be appropriate to recess into closed session.

Okay, thank you. We'll be right back. Apologies for the lateness. We'll go ahead and get started. We have a quorum. Do we have Council Member Peralta online? Okay, great. All right, we're back from closed session 7-26. So again, apologies for the tardiness. But Mr. City Attorney, if you can read out closed session.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. The record should reflect that the City Council convened into closed session with all five members being present, Councilmember Peralta appearing or participating via virtual participation. The two items that were listed on the agenda, were discussed in closed session. There was also one additional item listed under government code section 54956.9 subdivision D4 that was added to the agenda by motion of the city council and as much as that item came up after the posting of the agenda and there's an immediate need to brief the council and proceed direction. So that item would be to be I would imagine. And here's my report from those items. On item number one, the coalition for clean air was not discussed tonight. It will be held over to the next meeting. On item number two, a briefing was provided to the City Council on the second item under existing litigation. No action was taken and nothing to be reported at this time. On item number three, the City Council also received a briefing on those two items. There was no action taken at this time and nothing further to be reported. Madam Mayor, that concludes my report from closed session. It's appropriate to continue with the open portion of the meeting.

Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. So our next item is our invocation. Please, Mr. Motonga.

Lord, we are meeting here today to conduct matters of business, guide our hearts and our minds in the spirit of fairness, bright thought and speech. Impart your supreme wisdom upon our activities so that our affairs may reach a successful conclusion. Thank you for being our source of guidance today. Amen.

And for our Pledge of Allegiance, we will continue with our future leaders of Bonnebello. So today we have three siblings that are going to be joining us to do the Pledge of Allegiance. So I'm going to read a little bit about you, and then I'll have you come up to do the Pledge of Allegiance, okay? I'll start with Alina. Alina is an 11th grade student at Shur High School where her favorite subjects are math and physical education. She is talented and accomplished two-time Pan American gold medalist and bronze world championship medalist in Taekwondo. Alina's dedication, accomplishments, and aspirations are an inspiration to her fellow students and our community. And she looks forward to the future she hopes to pursue a career as a pathologist or a film editor. So that's Alina. And... Ariana. Ariana is our other feature leader. Ariana is an eighth grade student at Macy, Macy Intermediate, who enjoys also math and physical education and has a passion for nail art. She is also highly decorated Taekwondo athlete, a multi-year Team USA member, and Pan American gold medalist. Wow. Arianna is an inspiring example of leadership and excellence in our community. That's Arianna. And brother, brother Aram. Aram is a freshman at Sher High School who enjoys science and physical education. He excels in 3D printing and Lego building and has traveled to numerous countries to compete in Taekwondo competitions. With a passion for creativity and innovation, Aram hopes to one day design and build custom cars. So if you can please all come up and join us up here for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I'LL GO AHEAD AND GIVE YOU EACH A MIC. THEY'RE TURNED ON.

Okay. Everybody, please remove your hats and hoods. Place your right hand over your heart. And ready, begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Wait here. We have some.

All right, so moving on with our meeting, we have any corrections to the agenda, Mr. City Manager?

Yes, mayors, council member, we have one addition to our presentation. We're going to have a presentation from the Ashia Sister City students today. Thank you. Great, thank you.

So it is my honor as the Mayor of Montebello to welcome our student ambassadors visiting us from Ashiya, Japan, and the Montebello ambassadors who are back home, welcome back home. Your visit represents the strength of the friendship between our two cities, and we are so grateful that you traveled all the way to come visit us here in Montebello. So please give them a warm welcome. In addition to our traveling ambassadors, which you'll meet right now, I do also want to acknowledge and present our two host ambassadors. So if you can stand up and say hello, and that's Felix Rodriguez and Mia Espinoza. So I believe we have the presentation ready. So the four ambassadors, if you want to come on up to present.

Yeah. Mayor Tamayo, members of the city council, Moscow members, student ambassadors, host ambassadors, and citizens of Montebello, good evening. My name is Daniel Nagata, and I'm a recent graduate of Gaborlino High School, and it was my distinct honor to serve as a Montebello student ambassador this year to Hoshia, Japan.

Yes, my name is Maximus Almeida. I'm in 11th grade, and I go to Ashura High School. And I would like to thank everybody. Thank you again. Me and Daniel here are the 60th student ambassadors to go to Shia Japan. And this is a really big milestone year for us.

Thank you. So first of all, we'd like to take this time to introduce, as well, our Shia ambassadors. So first, from Kobe High School, class of 2029, we have Amane Ushida.

And I'd also like to introduce Taiga, who goes to Kine University High School. All right. And again, this year is a milestone year. It is the 65th anniversary of the program itself. And this April, we had the delegation of ACA, MASCA's counterpart in Japan. And they visited us for, I think, about a week or a weekend. And we got to show the delegation around Montebello, and it was very nice. Oh, and as well, our November, during November this year, our delegation from Moscow will also be going to Ashiya, Japan. And same thing, we're going to be visiting them, and we will be showing around. Yes, thank you.

So during our time in Ashiya, Japan, we got to spend time with three host families. So my host families included the Ushida family, Amane's family, the Haitani family, and Tanaka family.

Yes, again, during my three weeks, I was with the Enatsu family, the Okada family, and the Nakai family.

So we were very grateful for all the families who opened their doors to us to really help us indulge in the culture. So in Japan, there's this core cultural concept called Omotenashi, and it's a Japanese hospitality that is so genuine, it really makes you feel like family. On the slide, I have some pictures of this Omotenashi being shown, and Max and I really felt like we were part of their families during our time. So it was really, really cool to have that experience.

This was during our second week where we got to also meet the police chief and fire chief of the city. We were able to meet the president of the school nutrition, the board of nutrition. And this day we also got to meet with the mayor who gave us all of them, honestly, showered us with many gifts that we used during our stay.

In Ashia, education is an intrinsic value, which is why we got to visit so many different schools. Some of them included Yamate Junior High, Ashia Gakuen High School, and Ashia High School. And all of them taught us different parts of Their school life, for example, in Yamate Junior High, we got to see the ESS, known as the English Speaking Society, which is where Japanese students get to learn and study English, as well as be surrounded by peers who are also interested. At Ashiya Gakuin, we got to participate in a traditional tea ceremony, which is really cool, as they have clubs there that focus on this type of tradition. as well as at Ashia High School, where we got to experience kendo, kyudo, which is the archery there, and calligraphy.

These are just some of the activities the students of Ashia get up to, as well as Daniel had said, the tea club or the ceremony as we were given. It is a very interesting club that I was able to be a part of. There is like very specific steps that goes into serving the students. the chai tea and me and Daniel were able to make tea for each other and it was quite delicious. That was a very fun part of it. As well as during the English speaking society, we were able to go to a junior high school and talk to all the students and they got to ask us questions. And it was just a very interesting experience. I like getting to talk to the students. It was a lot of fun. They set up games for us. And we played a game called Super Bowl. And we knocked over cups with rubber bands. And they just set up a lot of interesting activities for us. As well as some of the photo booths. I think... Purikura, sorry. Purikura is one of the many popular photo booths that teens like to use to take silly photos like we did there with Tag and Amane. That was a really fun experience.

Also, during our time there, we had so many cultural and historical activities, so I'd just like to highlight a few of them. And in the top right corner, you can see the noh. Noh is a traditional Japanese mass dance where we got to dress up in yukatas and be taught by a noh master, Master Nakayama, who really gave us a really cool experience to be able to perform and learn and watch. Also, we got to visit Hiroshima during our time there, and the ACA actually folded 1,001 cranes for us to donate to the Peace Memorial Park. It's a tradition in Japanese culture to fold 1,001 cranes to make a wish, and our wish was the continued relationship between the two cities as well. Some of the other fun activities included dancing Soranbushi. We got to learn a traditional dance where all Japanese students learn in the third grade. And we learned it in 30 minutes, so pretty proud about that. And as well as probably one of the most fun days at the Ashiya Natsumatsuri, which is a summer carnival where they had a fireworks spectacular and, of course, delicious street food.

And of course, ,, which means friendship. Just among Taiga and Amane were plenty of HAs. And these HAs were, again, with us throughout festivals, activities at like ,, and just were very helpful and kind to us throughout our entire trip. You can see all of them in the bottom photo. There is a lot of friends that we made, and they truly made our trip what it was, amazing.

Okay, so at this time, we would like to present you a short video just recapping our entire trip. And please feel free to email us if you have any questions about our trip. Thank you again.

I'm sorry.

See you next time. I love you. I sleep in the corner of the parking lot. I gently tell the ending to my cat. He finally cried and encouraged me. I can't be serious. See you next time. See you next time. I'm wearing a black collar on my fingertips. I'll let you know that I love you. The shaking skirt is a proof that I'm in love. I'm in love with you in a small place. I'll raise my eyelashes high in the sky again today.

Hi, thank you, thank you. So I'm Andy Yamamoto, I'm the Vice President of Moscow. Thank you all for your time here. Just one quick thing, I wanna allow both Taiga and Amane to introduce themselves. They have just a short talk to present to themselves.

Mayor Tamayo, and city councils, everyone here tonight, good evening. My name is Saigai Natsu, 16 years old, from Asha, Japan. I'm in 11th grade of high school. Last month, I was entered in a national business contest where I competed against numerous university students and was able to obtain second place which resulted in receiving a $2,000 scholarship. That experience in international business inspired me to want to build bridges between cultures for the rest of my life. It is a great honor to stand before this council as one of my Ashia student ambassador, guided by three words, to know, to connect, and to continue. What I have come to love most about Montebello is its warmth. One evening, I cooked Japanese curry for my host families and watched them enjoy a dish from my country. It's a moment while I will never forget. It showed me that a language barrier feels small not to a shared meal or a shared I will carry that warmth home to ASEAN. As an ambassador, my promise is to keep the friendship between our two cities so that what we built here does not end, but continues. Thank you, Montebello. On behalf of ASEAN, it has truly been an honor. Thank you very much.

Good evening to everyone. I'm Asuka, the city councilor, the citizen. My name is Amane Ushida. I'm the 16th student ambassador from Ashiya Japan, the sister city. I'm 10th grade, 15 years old, and I will turn 16 next month. I attend to Kobe High School, which is located in the capital city of Hyogo Prefecture. I'm very happy to be here in Montebello. During my stay, I've noticed many differences between Japan and United States. For example, the people here are very open, friendly, and energetic. I was also surprised to see how often people hug each other as a greeting. I was a little taken aback at first, but thanks to these small gestures, I felt very warmly welcomed and right at home. Through this experience, I learned that culture exchange is not merely about learning the differences between two countries. I learned that it is about meeting people and gaining in conversation and understanding one another. I hope that friendship between Asia and Montebello will continue for a long time to come. and that young people like us will continue to build on this bond. Thank you so much for giving me this heartwarming opportunity to change myself. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you. What an awesome experience. And this is the Ashia organization. There's members here, so if you have any questions about this, but as you can see, it's definitely enriching and a memorable experience. So a warm welcome, again, to Montebello. And they have the Sayonara event. They have their Sayonara event this Saturday. So if anybody is interested, you can also talk to the members. That'll be the final goodbye to the ambassadors that are here. But awesome program. Thank you for sharing your memories. Okay, we'll move on. Our next item on the agenda is the Proclamation for National Wellness Month. This month, the city is proud to recognize August as National Wellness Month and encourages healthy lifestyle routines. While it may seem like a simple concept, self-care is easy to ignore, especially when we get caught up in the stresses of everyday life. Now, more than ever, we encourage everyone to choose wellness and make small changes to impact one's health in a positive way physically, mentally, and emotionally. National Wellness Month focuses on self-care, managing stress, and promoting healthy routines that take place in many forms. Some simple ways to take charge of your health and make National Wellness Month a priority include 30 minutes of exercise, disconnecting from social media, and spending time outdoors, maybe a stroll through Taylor Ranch Park or visiting the Montebello Barnyard Zoo at Grand Ray Park to pet some animals and reduce your stress. Other great ways to take care of yourself include staying hydrated, connecting with friends and family, and incorporating something new to your daily routine. To learn more about National Wellness Month, you can visit www.MontebelloCA.gov. And next on our presentations, we have the Treasurer's Report.

All right. I'll turn this around. All right. Okay. You can hear me? Okay. Treasurer's report. Let me just push this thing. Need a little help here? All right. Okay. I'm going to see it from here.

Total available cash.

91.2 million. Could you bring that a little forward so I can get her to read it?

There we go.

This is better. Okay, we'll start again. Total available cash, 91.2 million. And as of June 2025, available investment cash varies year over year based on revenue received, property tax, sales tax, et cetera, and expenses. June 26, it's 53 million. Okay, we got cash balance at year's end, hysterical trends. As you can see, it's going from 2020-16 to 2026. Available invested cash balance increases annually, last nine years. Steadily growth, city has a healthy cash balance. Cash at equivalent level as of 2016. Sufficient liquidity to meet our demands for the next six months. City's cash position remains sound. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Matonga, for the Treasurer's report, which covers the second quarter.

So that would be April, April, May, June.

All right, that concludes that portion of our agenda. We will move on to public comments. Mr. City Attorney, non-agenda items.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. This is the time for public comment and non-agenda items. Anyone who would have wished to address the City Council would have been required to turn a card in at this time or prior to this time. Each speaker has three minutes. And as I understand, we have eight cards for non-agenda items.

First speaker is Jorge Martinez, followed by Rosa Tamayo.

GREETINGS, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. TONIGHT I AM HERE TO BRING ATTENTION TO A DOCUMENT CALLED THE MOU OR MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN FIVE CITIES, THE CITY OF COMMERCE, MONTABELLO, PICO RIVERA, SANTA FE SPRINGS AND WHITTIER REGARDING THE METRO GO LINE EXTENSION PHASE TWO, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE WASHINGTON BOULEVARD LIGHT RAIL ALTERNATIVE. THIS DOCUMENT WAS CREATED BASED ON LIES, FALSEHOODS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS. Lie number one, businesses advocated for it, total falsehood. None of the businesses along Washington Boulevard and Montebello knew of this plan until we told them about it and many signed our petition against it. Lie number two, residents advocate for it. It has been my experience from Metro community meetings that the people are overwhelmingly against this project. Lie number three, it will improve traffic congestion. In what universe will this be true? Not in this one. Ridership will be low, people will not give up their cars. Lie number four, the light rail line is the preferred option. People prefer green electric buses. Metro prefers to build light rail systems even if they are not wanted or needed. We need the business of the city to be transparent, honest, and truthful. and for the city to do its best to see the needs of its businesses and residents. As I see it, you need to update your options with this MOU. Number one, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is a corrupt agency, and I urge you to stop doing business with them and opt out of the MOU. Number two, place on the November 2026 ballot a citywide vote to see if the residents want the light rail train on Washington Boulevard, or if they don't. REASONS WHY THE WASHINGTON BOULEVARD LIGHT RAIL IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. IT WOULD PLACE AN END OF THE LINE STATION AT WASHINGTON BOULEVARD AND GREENWOOD AVENUE RIGHT ACROSS FROM GREENWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. END OF THE LINE STATIONS BRING IN VAGRANTS, PANHANDLERS, VIOLENT CRIMINALS, THIEVES AND BURGLARS JUST LIKE IN LONG BEACH AND SANTA MONICA. THIS SITUATION WOULD BRING POTENTIAL PREDATORS OF ALL KINDS TO AN AREA SURROUNDED BY CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS. MONABELLA PARKS WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS IN NOT JUST THE NEARBY PARKS, BUT IN ALL PARKS NEAR STORES AND MARKETS. IF THE LIGHT RAIL IS BUILT, ALL OF MONABELLA WILL EXPERIENCE MORE CRIME NORTH AND SOUTH BECAUSE THESE WILL GO TO THE AFFLUENT NEIGHBORHOODS. MAKE NO MISTAKE, CITY COUNCIL OF MONABELLA, THE FATE OF THE CITY AND WHETHER THE LIGHT RAIL LINE IS BUILT HERE IS IN YOUR HANDS. to say yes or no to it. Do the right thing. Again, I urge you to opt out of the MOU and your dealings with the MTA. Tell them Montebello doesn't want or need their light rail trains. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Rosa Tamayo, followed by Linda Nicholas.

Buenas noches. Mayor Georgina Tamayo, el miembro del concilio. Yo soy Rosa Tamayo. Y no hay duda que nos ha pegado fuerte la economía, ¿verdad? Porque no tenemos... liquidez en el dinero. Pero aquí están los problemas con los 25 y 30 millones que nos han sacado y se mira a la diferencia. Pero el problema es, se viene más peor también. La economía nos va a nos va a fregar bastante. Y pues muchas personas están diciendo que resentidos sociales que nuestra ciudad es una ciudad como dicen vulgarmente guero, que no saben lo que es la definición de guero. Pero estábamos muy bien avanzando, pero pues la economía nos está fregando. Pero ustedes tienen que ser bien inteligentes. Tenemos que ser bien inteligentes en cómo avanzar con en lo financiero. Pero también tengo que decirles que la semana pasada casi me arroya un carro porque Montevideo Boulevard corren muy recio los carros. Manejan muy, muy, yo digo, van fumados. Y también por Montevideo Boulevard Montevallo Boulevard, Beverly Boulevard, Whittier, Washington. Es una cosa espantosa como la gente está corriendo. También tengo mucho gusto de que se empiece el proyecto de la presa que de... Gracias por su comentario.

Next speaker is Linda Nicholas, followed by Celia Hart.

Good evening. Oops. I'm going to break the mic. Good evening. My name is Linda Nicholas, co-founder of Match 90640. It stands for Montebello Activists to Clean House. We're still here. Sal, I would like to thank you for your years of service with our city. And I'd like to ask you to do something before you leave. Can you make a motion that if a council member does not attend a meeting, they should not get paid? Just like commissioners don't, because I don't think it's fair. The gentleman at the end, I'm surprised he's here. Most times he's not, but still gets a check for doing absolutely nothing. So would you do that? Also, the restroom across the street from where I live, Acuna Park, was remodeled. And they put some beautiful spotlights that now the party people love. They're holding parties till 10 to midnight because now they have a light. And they put on a dance floor and they have sound systems. I sent the city manager and I sent David pictures of it. But the police need signs that state that they cannot be in the park after a certain time. Because until it's done, the police can't do anything. So they can stay there till midnight. And my understanding is once it's dusk, they're supposed to leave. But since there's nothing stated there, the police hands are tied. They need something to show that every park should have one. They're not allowed to stay there after a certain hour. Because they have sound systems in the parks. The other people are there. And you can hear the music. And mariachi music's okay. I'm not crazy about the banda, okay? But I'd appreciate that. And I'm back, ladies and gentlemen, and I'm going to keep coming back and bring it to your attention. And I know, Ms. Romero, you said people love you and you're going to win really easily. You got hit pretty hard on Facebook today, didn't you? That's just the taste of what's coming. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Celia Hart, followed by Elizabeth Bayes.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Celia Hart, and I live here in Montebello. And I received a call from the Automobile Club a few days ago, and then a letter saying that they were not going to renew my insurance because I butt up to the property where the new property is. There's a whole... Area there that they never touched and my automobile club that I've had for with a bundle lane situation I've had over I think about 25 years not a claim on my automobile or a claim on my homeowners And they said that they they just didn't want me anymore So I was wondering as far as this Montebello City Hall. What what can I do? I'm exploring other insurance companies, of course, but it kind of got me shook up and So I was wondering what else. I'm talking to my neighbors and they have other insurance companies such as Mercury and all that. But I'm wondering what the city of Montebello is offering to help me as well as a resident. Do you have any suggestions?

Anyone else?

This is your time, ma'am. We're happy to follow up with staff afterwards, okay? Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry? This is your time for your comments, but we don't provide answers at this time.

Oh, okay. Well, I talked to this young lady, and I told her my problem, and she said for me to speak to you. So I'm assuming that you would give me some sort of an answer. But thank you for listening.

We have your contact information.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Elizabeth Bayes, followed by Will Severo.

Good evening, all. My name is Elizabeth Baez. I am here representing Montebello American Youth Soccer Organization, region 1065. We have been in Montebello now for 31 years. I am proud to be one of the founders in 1995, regional commissioner for 15 years. I have now returned as a volunteer when my grandchildren are now playing, the age of four and eight. The reason I'm here tonight is because ever since AYSO has been in the city of Montebello, we have been honored and privileged to use school facilities at no cost. In March, we requested the field La Merced Academy and La Merced Intermediate. They informed us that there is a facility fees and it stands as follows. a minimum of three hours. Facility costs $61 per hour. Custodial costs $40 an hour. The minimum that we use will be three to seven hours. Our fall season is approximately 13 weeks. This brings us to $18,382. We believe that our children are our future. This calculator that you see here as big as it is. The amount is noted, but it's certainly not appropriate working with this budget at a nonprofit organization. Our goal is trying to keep our children off the street. On June 8th, I reached out to our superintendent, requested and discussed the situation. I've attended several Mothervale School District meetings, emailed the school district, board, I received a couple of phone calls, all to ask me questions, but all I got was, I'll call you back. Never have I heard anything. AYSO has always been self-sufficient. Over 90% of our players are Montebello residents, attend Montebello Unified School District. We service children from the age of three to 19 years of age. We need the city, we need your help. We need fields to be able to play in the city. The city of Montebello has always talked about developing green areas, walking trails, why not a soccer field? Bella Verde, Edison Field, Brown Bay Park, Rio Hondo. We are considered a stepchild, we get handouts. AYSO is entirely a volunteer run program, keeping costs low. Please, we want the city empower young minds to be strong, not mentally, but emotionally, physically, exceptionally model citizens. We need your help. Our community is on an emergency survival mode. Our kids need us. Our kids need all of you. We need the city to come together and do something. We come here to ask you for your help. My name is Elizabeth Baez. I am doing a lot for our community. I do volunteer for a lot of clubs. Please, my name is Elizabeth Baez. Contact me so we can get together and get these kids off the street. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Will Silvera, followed by Bill Poliso.

Hey, council. Will Silvera, resident of over 40 years. Nice break. And man, I love getting to see that Brad Perrin's bungalow got red tagged. That made my heart happy. But onto other matters, Ms. Romero, you're going around saying that since you didn't have an opponent, you were going to be spending your money in District 3 and District 5 to be doing hit pieces. Well, that's according to, in my own personal capacity, Yvette Fembrez making comments that saying she's helping run your campaign with Christina Cortez. So now that you're running supposedly with Anna, introducing her, taking her to places, taking her to the transit day where she wasn't allowed as a private event, you know, but if we're going to go and play dirty, it goes both ways and we can dig up as plenty of shit on you as you can dig up on me. And you're married, me and Marie are not. I'm still a private resident. You're an appointed official. So your family's still free game. So if we want to play those games, go ahead, but you're going to be busy in your own district. So why don't you keep in your district, leave our district alone. Cortez is going to have enough problems with her daddy getting in trouble on the golf course. So you can make your RBF face or you can make your Fucci face, whatever you like, but stay out of district three.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Bill Peliso, followed by Corey Chappell.

Thanks for your comments, Will. It's come to my attention that at the 95th year of transit celebration for staff and vendors, we had a council member, Ms. Danielle Romero, bring a council candidate to the event, Ms. Ana Torres. I was wondering why this was allowed. Or did Ms. Romero take it upon herself just to bring Ana Torres? Well, come to find out, Ms. Romero is telling everybody that a city employee told her it was okay. I really hope this will be addressed, but the damage is done. Ms. Romero, you were able to introduce this candidate to city staff and city vendors, so you used your position as a council member for political gain. Ms. Romero, I ask you, why weren't other potential candidates there to attend and do the same? Let me answer for you, because it was not allowed. I would also like to bring attention to a video Ms. Romero posted on her council page the last few days, which since has been removed. This video was promoting a restaurant here in Montebello. Now, no disrespect to that restaurant, because they've done nothing wrong. What is wrong is for a council member to be promoting a single Montebello business. What about all the other great businesses here in Montebello, Ms. Romero? I guess you think you can do whatever you want. Well, Ms. Romero, this is a direct misuse of public position, liability, and favoritism. This looks like it's becoming a pattern for you, Ms. Romero, that you can go and say whatever you want. Fact that Ms. Romero even signed a false police report on me for battery, along with Peralta and Alonzo. Mr. Glassman, I really hope you have plans for a conversation with Ms. Romero about etiquette. Now, I want everyone to know that Daniel Romero, Rick Alonzo, and Ana Torres are all puppets for Cristina Cortez, the disgraced former mayor of Montebello, who is their council member. Please, everybody remember that. Should I bring up these other candidates right now, Ms. Romero, and introduce them and give them equal play? Marie, James, do you think that was proper?

You can please direct your comments to me, please.

I have nothing more to say. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker is Corey Chappell.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I wanna talk tonight about something pretty basic but incredibly important to me and I think the rest of the community. And that's how residents are supposed to stay connected with our city. I genuinely want to be informed. I want to know about city events, meetings, programs, workshops, emergencies. and opportunities for residents to participate. So I did download the My Montebello app, thinking that it might be a good resource, but when I checked, the most recent news item that I found was dated May 12th of 2025, promoting the Winter Wonderland. So my question is what is currently the best resource for residents who want to stay up to date? Do we have an email list residents can subscribe to? Can we sign up for text message alerts about city events, meetings, road closures, emergencies, or other important information? And if those resources do already exist, how are we making sure residents know about them? Communication needs to work both directions too. Over the past year, I have sent several, several emails to members of council. On very few have I received a response. I do understand council members are busy and cannot personally answer every message, but residents should know What is the most effective way to contact our representatives and know that our concerns have actually been received? Is there a possibility that we can add like a red message when they get open to alert the public that they've been received and opened? We do talk a lot about wanting residents to be more engaged, but engagement does require access to information, clear lines of communication, and confidence that when residents reach out, someone is listening. I believe we have a real opportunity to improve communication all around. So I would really like to know what steps the city is taking to improve those lines of communication, both from City Hall to the residents, and also from the residents back to City Hall. Because an informed and concerned community ultimately makes for a stronger Montebello. And since I still have some time remaining, Sal, I just wanna say that I did read your post, and I wanna thank you for your time served. Eight years, I know that I'm not in your district. But I will say that I feel that genuinely when I've come up here and had things to say, that I feel that you have listened, that you have responded, that you have voted with your constituents. And I just want to say, especially on the night of the D4 appointment when Joella had come in second and I really felt that she presented herself well, that you did put forth that nomination and I felt that that was really in line with what had been set as precedent. And I felt like you still gave the community a voice in doing so, even though it wasn't popular with your dais and I say thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

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

All right.

Mayor, if it's okay, just wanted to provide a couple of updates on areas of community of interest. Chief Lopez, do you wanna talk to them about a couple important things in our city?

Yes, sir, thank you, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council, and community. I'd like to remind the community that on Saturday, August 15th, from 10 to 12, We'll be having a backpack giveaway to MUSD students at our South End Police Community Center at Chet Holderfield Park. The community has been very generous with backpacks. And at National Night Out, we received an incredible amount of backpacks. ITEMS FOR SCHOOL. AND THEN THE CITY HAD ITS OWN DRIVE FOR BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPLIES. SO WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 150 BACKPACKS. WE'RE STILL EFFORTING TO GET MORE. SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS EVEN TONIGHT HAVE BEEN VERY GRACIOUS TO WANT TO HELP US. SO IT WILL BE SATURDAY FROM 10 TO 12. SO WE'RE HOPING TO IMPACT AS MANY KIDS AS WE CAN. We're also going to keep some at the police station and at the community center. So if some kids don't make it and they show up, you know, a day or two before school, we can try to help them. And I'm also very proud to announce that I attended the graduation this afternoon of one of our corporals, Corporal Jorge Medina, who graduated from the Los Angeles Police Department, Mortar OFFICER ACADEMY. IT'S A TWO-WEEK PROGRAM. IT HAS A 50% FAILURE RATE. AS LAST NIGHT, SOMEBODY WAS ASKED TO LEAVE THE CLASS, SO THEY STARTED WITH 11 AND THEY GRADUATED 5. That's our first motor officer since 2022. 18 months ago when I was fortunate to be in this position, that was one of the priorities was to increase the traffic unit and bring back a motorcycle officer. So you'll see him out there. It's timely because school starts next week. So our traffic efforts will be in the education of community members and parents dropping off their kids. But I just wanted to highlight Corporal Medina. It's a very, very difficult program. And for him to make it unscathed is incredible. And it's going to allow us to continue to grow our traffic unit. So it's just I know the community always ask about motorcycle officers. So it's been a little bit, but I'm proud that we brought it back. And we're hoping to continue to increase it.

Thank you, Chief.

That's it, Mayor, thank you. Okay, great. Thank you.

So now moving on to regular business items.

For number five, we don't have any speakers.

This is the acceptance of the Citywide Sidewalk Improvement Project, the notice of completion.

Do we have a presentation? Presentation has been given by Director of Public Works, he's rolled on. Mayor, council members, as it gets queued up, this is something that we talked to Public Works. We thought it was really important to bring it to not only the council, but to the general public's attention. Sidewalks are something that we live with on a day-to-day basis. Many, many years of efforts from our Public Works Department to ensure that we are making our sidewalks safe, plans. projects, many items have been brought to council to not only limit our exposure as a city, but also to make sure that everybody feels safe as they're walking the streets. So we felt that it was important to update the council in terms of the steps that we've taken over several years to this end. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. City Manager, with that introduction. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, council members, city staff, and members of the audience, this presentation IS WITH REGARDS TO SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS, CAPITAL PROGRAM 941. THE SCOPE OF WORK, SO THE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENT PROJECT ADDRESSED SIDEWALK TRIP HAZARDS BY HORIZONTALLY CUTTING CONCRETE PANELS WITH VERTICAL OFFSETS. SO IN THE NONTRADITIONAL WAY, THE CITY DID NOT REMOVE OR REPLACE SIDEWALK They chose this cost-effective way of mitigating concerns and liability to the city, wherever there were trip hazards, wherever there were deviations between sidewalk panels. THIS PROJECT WAS FUNDED THROUGH METRO FUNDS, MEASURE M FUNDS. THERE WAS NON-GENERAL FUNDS. NO GENERAL FUNDS WERE USED FOR THIS PROJECT. AND SO IT'S AN ABILITY FOR US TO LEVERAGE METRO FUNDING TO IMPROVE OUR SIDEWALKS. PROJECT TIMELINE. SO BETWEEN JULY AND SEPTEMBER OF 2024, A city came into a contract with Precision Concrete Cutting. They're one of the most skilled consultants and contractors that do an inventory citywide. And then they provide and identify trip hazards. Trip hazards where the sidewalks are severely lifted. Those we actually utilize a separate contractor to remove and replace. In September of 2025, City Council approved agreement number 4403, and they allocated $1 million for this purpose. In January of 2026, the project officially started, and in July of 2026, construction was substantially completed. This method that precision concrete cutting utilizes allows the contractor to come into a specific space, not have to post no parking, not have to disturb residents or businesses. So it's a really good way and an effective way to mitigate issues with regards to ADA sidewalks. So this is just a look at District 1. Again, understanding that there's several needs throughout the city, we did want to be equitable. So we pretty much divided that million dollars between the five different districts. And you can see all the little dots that represent, they're actually geo-coded as well. So it allows us to pinpoint exactly where the improvements were made. So what's neat about this company as well is it takes before and after pictures. So we're able to demonstrate in the future if and when projects were completed and when the actual improvements were done at a specific address. Again, here's district two and the various locations. District three, you can see that there's a lot of locations. So using this system, your dollar goes really, really far. It's much more cost effective than say removing and replacing sidewalk. Here's district four and then district five sidewalk locations. And this is just a before and after picture. You could see that the sidewalk is lifted here. Technical difficulties.

For the public, bear with us. We have some technical difficulties.

Thank you very much. So before and after pictures, you can see that the system that they use. It's not up there. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much again. So you can see from the picture here on your right, that's the program comes in with the horizontal cut. And it minimizes the amount of issues we might have with anybody in wheelchairs or anybody on walkers and just regular pedestrians walking by the streets. Once again, here's another example of what it looks like. It's really nice and clean. You can see even here where it's been cracked because the tree happens to be lifting the sidewalk. It's a simple fix. Community benefits. So it improves obviously pedestrian safety, sidewalk improvements, reduce pedestrian trip hazards, and comply with ADA. Enhancing neighborhoods, it improves sidewalk accessibility, enhancing pedestrian safety, supports ADA compliance, and contributes to more accessible and connected neighborhoods. And that concludes my presentation. I'm welcome if there's any questions from the city council members.

Thank you, Director Roldan. Any questions? Council Member Melendez.

Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Just one question, just out of curiosity. Were we able to obtain data of just what's causing the majority of the sidewalk damage? I'm assuming it's probably the trees, but just wondering if we were able to capture that data.

Yes, sir, that's a good question. So when we did the analysis, we did actually factor in the reasons why, and the majority happened to be trees. So when we remove sidewalk and replace it, a lot of times we have to do, we unfortunately have to come in and remove the roots. And a lot of times, a lot of those roots are what's supporting the tree. So if we go ahead and just, you know, remove a lot of the sidewalk and remove some of that, the roots, then the tree starts to decline faster. So by utilizing this specific system, it's easier for us to maintain the trees in some sort of health and also reduce liability to the city and enhance ADA.

And just to follow up, we did work on this project with our vendor, West Coast Arborist, and they were removing trees, or was it just completely separate?

No, in this specific case, we did not remove any trees. This project, that's why we chose this. It's just a better. Now, in some other instances where we did another project, and we'll probably end up closing that project out in the next month or so, there were some trees that needed to be removed, unfortunately.

Got it.

Thank you.

Council member, if I may add, because I don't want to overlook the amount of the work that Cesar did and just having the foresight. So, tree removals are really expensive. I think I've talked in the past about, you know, the reasons we do, and it's really rare that we do it unless we absolutely have to. Sidewalk improvements are really expensive as well. What Cesar has been describing, and this is where I want to commend him having the foresight, Not just focusing on traditional things, right? Which is a sidewalk, you know, it's lifted, it's a liability, removing them, super expensive. And so Cesar was proactive in identifying proprietary construction in terms of being able to shave down, right? So the pictures you saw, I think they're pretty significant. You see slight lifting, and instead of us going, you know... the hard route, the most expensive route of removing the sidewalk, the proprietary mechanisms, equipment basically shakes down the sidewalks, right? So it's significantly a cost-saving measure on our end in terms of a construction project, and it also reduces our liability. And again, Cesar, we've worked in other cities. I've been in other cities. This is the first time that it has been presented to me as an option to having this type of this type of option when traditionally it's just been remote sidewalks, right? Which is really expensive.

And on that note, we're probably doing four to five times more work with this system than the traditional removal and replacement of sidewalks.

Any further questions or comments? So on that note, I know it was noted that there was 17,067 trip hazards. So do you know about how many were addressed or more or less?

There was, I believe, just a little bit more, over 9,000. 9,000, great. Which makes it, you know, it's huge, right?

Thank you. So if there are no further questions, I'll take a motion for this item. Council Member Peralta. Council Member Peralta, did you have any questions or comments on this item? All right, we'll move forward with the motion.

I'll make the motion to approve the item. I second.

Motion made by Councilmember Melendez and a second by Councilmember Alonso. If we can please call the roll.

Councillor Peralta. Council Member Peralta, are you there? We're taking the vote for agenda item five.

Hello, hello?

Yes, we can hear you.

Oh, sorry, I have been trying to, yes, aye.

Thank you. Council Member Melendez? Aye. Council Member Alonso? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Romero?

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo?

Aye. And this item passes. All right, we move on to consent calendar. Mr. City Attorney.

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor and council members. All matters on the consent agenda are considered to be routine. Any items a member wishes to discuss including the items that have been pulled by the members of the public will be designated at this time. All other items may be approved in a single motion. Such approval also waive the reading of any ordinance. Let me first announce we have speaker cards for three items.

Is that correct?

Yes, that's correct. We have speaker cards for item number 13, 21, and 25. Are they the same speaker? Same speaker for the three items.

So we have items 13, 21, and 25. And then I'll pull the council to see if there's any additional items. Starting with council member Peralta, do you have any items on the consent that you wish to pull?

Yes, item number eight.

Eight, okay. And then council member Melendez.

No items.

Thank you. Council Member Alonso.

No items.

Thank you, sir. Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Item number 24. 24?

Okay. And then to the Mayor. Mayor, do you have any items?

Item 20.

20. Okay. So we have items 21 and 25. Okay. So at this point in time, it would be appropriate to entertain a motion for items number six, seven, nine, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, and 26 through 31. Is there a motion to that effect? Mr. Secretary, I think also item number 19.

You didn't mention that one? 19. The treasurer's report and then... Yeah, number 19.

Did somebody call it?

No.

Yeah, okay. So that should be included in the consent. I didn't hear it.

Yeah, yeah. Is there a motion to approve all other consent agenda items?

I need to motion the items as read into the record.

I'll second.

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

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor President Romero.

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo.

Aye.

That leads us to item number eight, which was pulled by Council Member Peralta.

Yes. Mayor, can you confirm that you can hear me?

We can hear.

Okay, great. Yes, I just pulled this item just to express that I'm actually really pleased to see this moving forward. And I just wanted to kind of share a little bit of background behind this specific item. So back in 2023, the city council had began began looking at what it would look like to begin identifying Edison right-of-way underutilized parcels in the city of Montebello and how we can essentially begin to use these spaces for open space park amenities. Similar to a SHIA park, a SHIA park is actually owned by Edison and they lease that land to the city for us to have that specific park. And so specifically in my district, there are a few mile long parcels that are underutilized that are Edison right-of-ways. And so back in 2023, we had met with Edison to discuss the concept of putting these underutilized right-of-ways to community use. we developed an actual years specifically because Edison is a little bit difficult to work with in terms of just this is land that they own and they have different priorities. And so I do wanna really thank staff for continuing to advocate and really pushing for Edison to take this specific concept seriously. And so tonight this item is essentially a secondary land use intake form submitted to Southern California Edison. It's not committing the city to actually constructing a project or receiving final approval from Edison. It's more of just a feasibility and an actual review process with Edison. So we can understand what may be possible along the right of ways, including potential restraints and requirements specifically for these types of parcels. They are very strict in terms of, you can't necessarily construct or there can't be barriers that can inhibit Edison from accessing their land. So, you know, certain types of playgrounds or certain types of park amenities are not allowed. And so that's why we were looking at more of a walking bikeway open path approach. type of functional use for the community for these specific areas. And so just as someone that has really advocated for open space and recreational amenities, being able to transform these underutilized spaces into assets that our residents can use is something that I know for a long time we've been pushing as a council. And so I do wanna just thank city staff for continuing to be that advocate with Edison. And for now taking after, I think now three years, being able to kind of take this formal step of submitting this land use intake form for their consideration and obviously for further approval and collaboration is something that I'm really supportive of. So just wanted to share some background behind that effort. And if there are no other comments, I'd be happy to make a motion for approval.

Any further comments on this item? No further comments. If you would like to make the motion.

I'll motion to approve this item number eight.

I'll second. So we have a motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Mayor Prochamber Romero. We can call the roll, please.

Council Member Peralta. Council Member Melendez. Aye. Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Portan-Romero.

Aye.

Mayor DeMaio.

Aye. This item passes. Our next item.

Next item would then be item number 13. Actually, they have items 13, 21, and 25. Okay. So we're going to call.

So for item number 13, 21, and 25, we have Elva Sam Osorio.

Hi, good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. My name is Sami Osorio, and I'm a resident and local business owner in District 3. I am speaking tonight on the consent calendar regarding items 13, 20, 23 and 25, I believe. Yeah, just getting that correct. And it's specifically for the contracts regarding hardware supplies, cybersecurity, office supplies, blankets, purchase orders, and just enterprise software. And so when you look at these consent items altogether, there's kind of a clear pattern that emerges. And it's of over like a million dollars of Montebello tax dollars being systematically exported to corporate giants while our local small business owners are left with breadcrumbs. So if we look at item 21, that's up to $300,000 to Amazon. Under 13, you're approving $150,000 to Home Depot while capping our own Ace Hardware Montebello at just $5,000. So that's just like giving 30 times more funding to a mega corporation than our own local hardware store. under item 25, handing over 1.3 million to Tyler Technologies, which is a massive government tech monopoly. And, you know, at the end of the day, we can just call it what it is, which is, I mean, you know, I don't know. It's not correct, I think, in my opinion. And Monobello is essentially almost 80% Latino. We're a community of hardworking immigrant families, mothers, fathers, and small business owners who grind every single day and pay our taxes in this city. And what's being done with our money? It's being sent to corporations like Amazon, Tyler Tech, and Home Depot. Some notes on that. Amazon and Tyler Tech build the technology, infrastructure, cloud databases, and surveillance software actively used by ICE to track, detain, and tear apart innocent immigrant families. Home Depot subjects our community members to high-tech surveillance in their parking lots and in their own stores, and routinely allows federal agents to target day laborers and workers on their property. So why are Monobel tax dollars being used to fund these corporations that profit off of targeting and destroying our own community? Sorry.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that concludes the speaker for all three items listed on there.

That would be appropriate then, Madam Mayor, to approve items 13, 21, and 25. We still have other items for the consent, but those three items. Thank you.

A motion and a second for those items?

I'll make the motion.

Do we have a motion?

I'll second.

We have a motion by Council Member Melendez, a second by Council Member Peralta. A vote please.

Council Member Peralta?

Aye.

Council Member Melendez? Aye. Councillor Malonzo. Aye. Mayor Pretano-Romero.

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo.

Aye.

Thank you.

And those three items pass.

Yes. That leads us to item number 20, which is the approving of the lease with Southern California Edison for the use of a SHIA part. I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER. THAT WAS MY SON, YES.

SO THIS IS ALONG THE LINES OF THE PREVIOUS ITEM THAT COUNCIL MEMBER TALKED ABOUT. SO A SHIA PARK, WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON CITY MANAGER THAT THIS IS NOT A TYPICAL OR THEY DON'T DO THIS MUCH ANYMORE WITH PARKS. But we do have a Shia Park that is a Southern California Edison site that we use as a park. So we want to make sure that that stays as green space and usable in our community.

Yeah, that's correct. And now actually, you know, I want to hand it out to David Sosnowski, who's been working on this and can provide more context. But you are correct, Mayor. We are lucky in that, in essence, it's been grandfathered in that, you know, they gave us access to this park. But, you know, we don't know if they would give us the same access if that didn't exist already. David, do you want to give a little more context?

And welcome to the... Owned by SoCal Edison. And to the point that's being made here, one, it's a great deal because they haven't really raised the price. We're paying $9,849 for five years. So it's about $1,900 a year. First of all, amazing for that. But also, it being 60 years and this being the 60th year, we're also grandfathered in on a lot of amenities. There's a basketball court. There's two playgrounds. No parking, but that's another requirement that Edison has for all their properties. But if you look into Edison now, and Director Roldan worked on this and we talked with Edison about how that future property would work, it'd be more of a passive thing. So we're lucky to have this for 60 years and also be able to have some amenities. All new developments, you even see the agreement on the agenda, don't allow trees above 15 feet because of the drip lines they're called, the Edison power lines. So having that ability, we have some taller trees on property that they're not making us remove. So very fortunate to continue this and we appreciate the council's consideration of continuing this lease and keeping Ashia Park as one of our parks in the city. Thank you.

Thank you, Director Czesnowski for highlighting this space. So I'll take a motion and a second for this item 20.

A motion to approve.

I second.

A motion by Council Member Peralta, second by Council Member Alonso. If we can call the roll, please.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Portillo-Romero.

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo.

Aye.

Thank you.

And that passes. So we'll move on to our next item.

Yes, the next item is item number 24. And that was, I believe, pulled by the Mayor Pro Tem.

Good evening. Yes, I just wanted to highlight this item and thank the city staff for securing this grant. These funds are going to be available to assist our unhoused population here in Montebello. They'll assist with the first and the last month's rent as well as utilities. And this is really going to ensure that these unhoused residents, they have a successful transition, and as somebody who comes from a large family, it's hard to imagine not having the support of family to assist you if you ever come up on financial hardships, but it's unfortunate that this does exist, and I'm glad that our city is able to assist these residents, and we were able to secure this funding. With the current, economic climate it's only going to get worse and uh so i i am grateful to the mcap uh team for consistently going above and beyond and assisting them and i just wanted to say thank you to the city and for securing this that's all i have to say thank you

So any further comments or questions on this sign-on? If not, I'll call for a motion and a second.

I motion to approve.

I second. So we have a motion by Councilmember Alonso, a second by Mayor Pro Tem Romero. If we can please call the roll.

Councillor Peralta. Council Member Melendez. Aye. Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye.

Mayor Tamayo.

Aye.

Thank you.

This item passes. And that takes us on to our AB 1234 travel reports. Do we have any reports on that AB 1234? Council Member, Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Yes, I attended the ICA conference, and one of the programs that really inspired me, there was a gentleman, his name was Kevin Thomas, and he wrote a book called Leading Through Crisis, A Black Hawk Down Army Ranger's Lesson for Public Service. And he spoke on the importance of leadership, but guiding those, you're only as strong as your weakest link, right? And I think that applies to so many different things. And it was very inspiring. It hit home, especially as an Army veteran myself. and just reinstilling those values of supporting not only the people in power, but also those not in power, right? So I really appreciate that. And then also one of the sessions was entitled, The Real Trade-offs of Independent Police and Fire Departments. And we are a unique city in that we have our own fire department, police department, and transportation. And so just recently, our fire department were deployed. And so I just wanted to publicly recognize and honor the outstanding members of the Montebello Fire Department who stepped up to support the state of Oregon during an extraordinary wildfire emergency. When Oregon was overwhelmed by more than 20 acreage aggressive fires, five of our brave Montebello firefighters answered the call, deploying with a fire engine to join mutual aid response for the first time since 2000, heading the strike team Alpha 01 Alpha alongside Long Beach, leading a combined unit of 20 personnel and five captains with additional support from Arcadia, Monrovia, and Downing. Working under extreme and relentless aggressive fire conditions, our firefighters put in 18 consecutive days of grueling 12-hour shifts. They executed essential structure defense and complex burn operations on a massive 400,000-acre fire complex spanning two counties. Through their skill, courage, and dedication, they successfully saved and protected homes in rural communities whose residents were deeply grateful for our Southern California firefighters. By leading Strike Team Alpha 01 Alpha, our fire department demonstrated a higher level of service and represented the city of Montebello with exceptional pride and professionalism on a regional stage. And so I just wanted to highlight that and thank our firefighters.

And there's the lab. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I as well attended the conference, the Independent Cities Association Summer Seminar. The seminar brings together local officials from across the region to discuss issues in local governments and housing mandates public safety and fiscal pressures that face our city and emerging challenges around technology and artificial intelligence but this gives us an opportunity to see what is going on in other cities and go through ideas of what is working, what is not working. But definitely the housing mandates is something that is challenging, challenging, I think, throughout the cities affecting our city as well as other cities. So it's learning from other cities to see what is going on. So that was an opportunity to attend the conference. All right, that concludes our travel reports and we have no council orals. So that takes us to the end of our meeting for today. Thank you for attending and our next meeting will be in two weeks. Thank you.