City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening everyone. We're going to call our meeting to order. Let's start with our land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhabit today was once known as Tavvengar, the home of the Gabalini Tomba people. We show our respect to the Gabberino Tomba people as well as all indigenous people, past, present, and future, and honor their labor as original caretakers of this land. We commit to uplifting the Gabellin Tonva people, invite you to acknowledge the history, and join us in caring for this land. Now, we're going to have the flag salute brought to us by the Monterey Park Fire Explorers. Everyone, please rise. Ready face.

work. Thank you. You may be seated.

Madame clerk, may we get a roll call, please? Council member Go, present. Council member Wong, present. Council member Sanchez, present. Mayor Promlo, here. Mayor Yang, present. We have a form. Thank you. Uh, city manager, do we have any agenda revisions and additions? No, madame mayor. No changes.

We're not adding the data center to tonight's agenda. Tim, you have a presentation for us. No, I'm just kidding. April fools. But Tim was ready to go. All right. Public communications. All right, we have a few public communications. Let's start with uh first one, Micah Shaw. press anything or just talk.

You can begin. Just talk.

Yeah, just for Thanks for having me guys. Appreciate you guys. Um on the intersection of New Market and Garfield in the morning, it's really backed up. just asking just a suggestion if we can get like a enough turn signal there so people can turn either like 9 in the morning until like 1 because sometimes people will cross and people won't be able to see them so they might get injured. So and then next thing was just uh if we can get some more 988 um signs around the community because I haven't seen any being here. I moved here recently so um people are kind of dying of suicide a lot. The rates going up a lot. So, if we can get some 988 crisis lines in the area, that'll be really good. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you, Micah. Our next speaker is Bill Lamb. Mayor, while the next speaker comes up, maybe we can connect uh the speaker to traffic commission Marcus. Uh and then yeah, I think if there are ways to continue to promote 98 and mental health resources, I know we've been doing that in the community um the last few years. just whatever else we can do obviously would be great. Um I have the I have papers to give you Um, you all could hear me, right?

Okay. Good, good, good. So, uh, yes, this is Bill, Bill Lamb, uh, long born and raised in this, uh, great city of Monterey Park. Um, so I want to talk about the spirit bus service cuz, um, cuz when the when changes went into effect in uh, August of last year, um, there are like some signage that are like, you know, missing. So I even uh I even um map it out to where the signs would that are currently missing need to be placed. So even after the changes were made. So um that's the first part. The second part is um seven months ago I I think I gave you the map of my own uh proposed uh uh proposed uh routing of the spirit bus. I mean it mostly at the same but one of the idea that came up is about route three because route free it would have been nicer to have route free come back to the area around Garvey Reservoir but not only that uh uh I added I added a new proposed valley that can go around the the uh business center right there you know it would have been nicer to have a deep connection with the marketplace and city hall. Um, and that that's the second part. And the third part is uh I'm not sure if the survey is still open, but I did mention about the trans express because the vehicle dive book should have picked me up even if it's it's closer to the end of service so that they can take at least take me home as a last ride to destination because on December of last year, I tried to catch it from Cass LA at around 7 p.m. going home and the vehicle was way far from my pickup location. And when the vehicle was closer to my pickup location at corporate center, they turned on to remote. All of a sudden at 7:30, uh, everything had most likely crashed in the app and I tried to call customer service to track my it says

it's going to it's likely computerized saying that the vehicle is on its way and I had to waited almost 20 to 30 minutes uh for that vehicle to pick me up and it's still no show. So I had to find our way to back home in which it really frustrates me. was so bad. So, I had took call I tried to call to speak to an agent, but they're already done for a day. So, I had to call again to cancel my ride. And uh lastly, I'm not sure if you're aware about what h about the Alhamra's ACT service cuz uh because Alhamra is planning to bring the ACT uh bus service from Commonwealth and Fremont all the way down to uh Garfield and Helman. Uh, I wasn't aware about this until I checked it on the city's website, but they did gave me a paper about this because, you know, it would have been nicer to have uh, uh, changes to the Spirit bus route so that a Spirit bus route can go through Atlantic and Helman so that you could have a second transfer connection with the Spirit Bus and the ACT instead of just only one at the Cast LA. Uh I didn't get a chance to watch at the Alhhamra city council meeting uh when they were supposed to vote on this but uh because uh I'm not sure if you saw the news about uh the Alhhamra situation over there where they the city council was met with a large group of uh uh people protesting against this uh ISIS action. So I didn't get a chance to see if they if the Alhamra city council approved it or not. So, but uh but yeah, but yeah, I mean it would it would have been greater to have uh a spirit bus service that can go through uh Atlantic and Helman because going through it could have a better second transfer connection instead of

just one at Cal with the Spear Bus and the ACT uh blue line service. So um so um I also had ideas uh I also had ideas about you know going to new areas including Sher High School which I' I've seen sher high school students use spirit busting year round before co uh as well as uh well I could have said uh connection more wrership growth with the trans with the connection between Mari Park and Roseme but unfortunately Roseme explore became came roles be go. So that's already out of the question. But uh but going back to the going back to the act issue, I mean it's all Alhamra's control. So it would have been to close this off, you know, it would have been nicer to have uh a spear bus route going through Atlantic and Helman like all the way around so that there could be better transfer connections between you know uh a spear bus and ACT instead of just only one at uh Cala. So that is all. Thank you.

Thank you, Bill. Thank you. Um, out of curiosity, um, for residents who use Spirit Bus or any of these services, is there a way either on the, uh, MPK app, is there a way to give feedback, especially when there are questions or comments about services? Sean, uh, director of public works is coming down to to jump in here. I definitely know that we have uh information on the city's web page about how to contact staff uh in regards to spirit bus uh communications that we could um communicate back with our provider. Um via I believe has um opportunities as well to provide feedback, but I'll let Sean jump in.

Yes. Good evening, Mayor Mayor Pro City Council. Sean go public works director. Yes, you can provide feedback via the app. Um you can also call their customer service number and provide feedback. So there are multiple opportunities. You can even call us um in public works and we can relay that information to via Okay. No, that's good to know. I just want that out there that that we that you can one can give feedback and I and I will also just say I I realize that sometimes, you know, especially when you have scheduling when it comes to buses and traffic, sometimes it's not always accurate, but I will say for the record that on I've once waited for a spirit bus at Atlantic and Emerson and apparently it never showed up. So, I'm just saying, you know, I mean, it happened to me, you know, and I'm sure it happened to others, you know, just just when it was out there. Thank you. We'll look into that.

Yes. I just point out that we do have the the point of VIA and the Mari Park Transit Express also to fill in some of these gaps for that exist with the fixed route system and whatever we can do to continue promote. I don't know Bill if Bill is aware of Mar Park Transit Express. Uh, and if you're waiting for a bus, most of those bus stops for Spirit Bus, you can you can do MBK Transit Express, right? That's correct. Yes. And Sean, since I have you here, just um because Bill brought up a good point. Um, first off, do do you know if if Alhamra did indeed pass this? Um,

I do not know if they passed that. We have been in communication with them about um evaluating connection point here. Um, but I do not know if they've completed that as far as council's level. I mean, because I'm assuming it did because it says here service starts July 13th, so it makes sense they did. Yeah, probably. Um, but my other question is, um, are there points, um, because I see, for example, that O'Hhamra's ACT, um, blue line goes through kind of close to Helman. Are there points where where that you might know of where our our um spirit bus intersects with their act line?

Well, this this will be a new proposal from them. So, I don't know. We haven't looked at to see if there's any intersection points because this is a reroute for them. I think so. I'm looking at the map Bill gave us and I I I think that's line one. It's Garfield and Helman that it's probably Kitty corner or same corner but it intersects with the blue line for again this is the new plan for Hamra. Yeah.

So I mean I if we were doing it we would talk to the neighbor and find out where it is so we can intersect it. And then I think Bill to your point if we were doing it now we would call them and say let's find how to intersect. because we actually had our spirit bus plans out ahead of time. It is harder for us to actually we don't know what they're doing until they have the plans out. Uh but I'm sure you guys can coordinate.

Yes. And we've been talking with them and and some of these things they were still fine-tuning as they're part of their re um reorg just like we did. We reevaluated our system. They were in the same process but they followed us. So again, to your point, it's it's challenging to um make reroutes when we've already done all of ours, right, without knowing what they've been doing.

And I think just uh to add on in the future when we start when we because I know we're constantly looking at routing and based on, you know, whatever writers are are actually using or what they're um requesting. And um it might be useful for us to coordinate with Ohham and find ways that we could intersect, for example, our Spirit and sorry, our um Spirit bus and their ACT lines uh for people who might want to connect and travel to Ombra uh through our system. Absolutely. Again, this this is all new to them and they've never gotten close to our border. We've always been on our borders and again, their system operates within their realm and we operate within our realm. And so I think that that's where we can probably have better contact with what they're looking at.

Looks like we're getting closer. We're getting there. Takes time. All right. Thank you, Sean. Thank you. Thank you, Sean. All right. Our next speaker is Carla Smith Hopemir. And uh we have the Here there's a lot of pictures. Yeah. Yeah, we have the pictures. So I can tell you afterwards if you want me to what they are.

Sure. But I think they're kind of going to be self-explanatory. So again, hello. My name is Carla Smith Holtmire. I am here to represent Betty Denny Smith, the owner and resident located at 1766 Blufffield Drive. My mother is currently on hospice care, and so I'm speaking on her behalf. My mother moved into the home in December of 30 31st of 1958, excuse me, when I was only two months old. At the time, Monterey Pass Road was known as Coyote Pass. The Highlands had yet been developed. Lennox Square was home for JC Penney, JC Newberries, Singer and Thrifties. The property where Prao now stands was an opened Christmas tree lot every year. The telephone lines were shared by neighbors and part otherwise known as party lines. This history reflects a long-standing connection my mother has and my family have had with the home and the surrounding community. The reason I am here today is apparently the city does not have any CCRs in place regarding building fences or ADUs that have impacted their neighbors views. On January 14th, and I don't know if I can do this, but Mr. Lou at 1295 Hillside decided that he wanted to build a fence around his yard. And he has a very large a very large yard. So, this white vinyl fence was built on three sides of his property. Mr. Lou just moved into our neighborhood. He and his workers brought the product through my mother's property without permission. When I arrived at the house, I discovered a 10 20 foot part of the fence had already been built. So, I contacted Mr. Lou. I asked him if he would could uh work with us, meaning the neighbors that were in the area, and explain how the fence would negatively impact the property by obstructing a longestablished view. We're talking 67 years worth. I also

shared that I grew up in the home and the view was always an intricate part of the property. I offered a reasonable suggestion for alternate placement that I believe would work for both of us. Mr. indicated he had already spoken to Miss Linda Woo who lived next door to my mother and stated that he considered adjusting. He told us that he wanted to be a good neighbor. Unfortunately, that did not turn out to be the case. Less than a week later, the entire fence was completed. Originally, the plan to say uh originally planned to say that the situation was an eyesore is an understatement. The future compound that issue the compounded issue that Mr. Lou has now planted trees along that fence line and eventually will exceed that height of six feet. Although the city allows a maximum fence height of six feet, that limit has already been exceeded in several locations. The measurements ranged anywhere from 72 in all the way up to 79. Despite that, the city has indicated these are violations are acceptable. The situation has a significant and long impact on my mother's property. I'm here today to ask the city council to protect the future homeowners so that no one has to go through this as my family has experienced. I am deeply troubled that the city never made CCRs or similar protections in place to prevent this type of intrusion on our neighbors property. I have spoken to local real estate agents and professionals and asked them for an estimate of loss of my mother's property due to the restriction of the view and they have indicated it's anywhere from 150 to 200,000. I see I've submitted photos that would documents that will of the view that what it

looked like in the early 60s uh through 25 compared with what I now see in 26. The view was spectacular. From my mother's home, you could see St. Thomas Bridge, Pave, Signal Hill, and Clear Day, Catalina Island. View is now completely gone by a white vinyl fence. If my mother was well, she would be heartbroken by what has happened to her home and where she has lived for nearly 70 seven decades. Given the current conditions, I feel an even greater responsibility to speak on her behalf. In closing, I am respectfully asking the city to implement changes that will have and be in place to protect longterm residents from actions taken by new homeowners who do not consider the longl lasting impact of their neighbor and the community as a whole. And on those pictures, uh the little one is me in 1963. The next one is a view in 1970. And then you'll see views of my from my mother's bedroom. You see a view of what it looked like and now what it looks like as well as the backyard, the back view. And the last one is uh on the other side of that 20 foot fence. I had to snap a picture before I lost it. That's it. Thank you, Carla. Uh, I believe we have another speaker on this same uh topic, Linda Woo. And we also have documents provided to, so I'm going to pass these out.

Uh, thank you, Mayor Yang, and city council members. Um, my name is Linda Woo. I have been a resident of Monterey Park for 58 years and 25 years of them at this current residence. And as Carla said, I'm here on behalf of several neighbors who have a major concern um with this issue. Um for a little background, um this past year, the new neighbor moved into the house behind mine directly. I'm located at the top of a hill and the neighbor's home is behind mine at the bottom. The neighbor's property backs up to my backyard. On January 14th of this year, the neighbor erected an expansive six-foot fence along the backside of my yard. I was not notified in advance, so it was quite a shock to come home after work and see the structure extending the length of the backside of my property. His fence completely obstructs my view. The view is one of the reasons why I purchased the house originally, and it is one of the primary features of my home that I've enjoyed for many years. The fence not only impacts my feelings of personal space and tranquility, but it also devalues my property. As Carla said, according to property appraisal estimates, a home with a good view costs 30% more than an identical home on the same side of the street facing the other way. So therefore, my home has now lost substantial value. I cordially reached out to the neighbor the day after he installed the fence, and he initially said he would consider lowering the lowering the wall to 4 feet if I paid for it, which I agreed to. He said he would contact the fencing contractor and let me know the cost. The next day, he said he was reconsidering lowering it to 5T instead, again at my cost. Although I was disappointed, I also agreed to cover the expense because

it would at least buy back some of my happiness. When the neighbor did not get back to me with an estimate after a week, I reached out to him again. He then informed me that he was going to leave the fence at its original height. So, all all of us really did try to be neighborly and work with him. Since then, the neighbor has installed a fence behind the entire backyard of my neighbor to the right and obstructing their view and Carla's view, and she's lost onethird of her view. The three of us offered to pay to have the fence move down the hill a few feet, which would have provided the same degree of privacy for the neighbor while preserving our views. And unfortunately, he was not interested in considering this. To give some perspective on the impact the fence has had on my property, I've attached a photo of my view prior to the fence being installed, which you have in your packet, and photos of what my view is now. And it's basically a big white fence. It's zero. So, I along with many of my neighbors have serious concerns about how a fence or structure can so negatively impact an entire neighborhood. Therefore, in response, we are proposing a new residential municipal code that would prevent this from happening to other residents and from further loss of our views and our property values in the future. The proposed municipal code is also attached in your packet on page two. In short, it requires a homeowner to obtain prior consent from other homeowners whose original views will be obstructed by fencing, plantings, or structures. Um, I want to thank you for your consideration of supporting this action and of moving the proposed municipal code forward through the approval process. And in the few minutes I have left, um, another my other neighbor to my right, he had an emergency and he could not be here tonight, but he did he was going to

speak and share these other photos of his home prior to the fence and after. and um he wanted to let you know he has children, one with special needs and does her work out outside and has lost um a view that uh brought again a lot of tranquility and um peace for her while she worked in the yard. So um just thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you both Linda and Carla for speaking to us on this issue. Um any comments from my colleagues? Um, I'm just curious um to staff. So, when it comes to um like a hillside neighborhood, I mean, do we have currently um ordinance standards regarding height um for those these type of properties but the hills? Madame Mayor, members of the council, we do have um standards in our municipal code in regards to height um maximum heights allowed for fences. Um that is correct. There is maximums that are currently in the um municipal code. Um, in regards to um getting um authorization from um neighbors, I think that's something that uh we can potentially look into, but that portion is not in in the code at this time.

Okay.

I mean, given that, you know, I think I know I'm saying generalizing, but I think what 76% of the of this city is probably hillside neighborhoods. And I think that um and I and I get you know that um you know you every few years or decades you get new owners but you know I think that um um that might be something to consider like building standard especially given that people sometimes remodel or even rebuild. I would just echo what council was saying in terms of I'd love to look at options. I know there are limits to what we can do as a city in terms of forcing what people do on their own private property. Uh and obviously we have to be consistent in terms of what we require for homeowners and property owners uh in terms of fencing privacy things like that. So and understand your point completely and I I want to note for the speakers here right even if we got something on the books now ex if the existing fencing is was allowed under the existing there's nothing we can do retroactively to force a homeowner to change what they already built there really do feel for you um but whatever we can do kind of going forward I think it it would be in the community's interests uh till how we can work to preserve views. So I think that's one of the main attractions for folks that are located here in Mari Park and particularly in the hills. Uh if there are options that we can look at that makes sense that uh legally right the city can do I open to those options. Uh unfortunately the city generally can't force people to be good neighbors. um we can try to encourage that and I think we can help to the extent that the neighbor is interested in convening in a discussion. It sounds like you've already reached out. I don't know that there's a whole lot we can do in this specific situation, but I think we can

look at options going forward. If there are, it sounds like code enforce has already been out in terms of looking at the the fence there. Um if they comply with the existing law, it's hard to make them do something else. Uh but it's definitely a problem that I've not heard this come up as an issue in the city um in my time at least. And so maybe this is something we can look at proactively. I don't know how much how widely this would be an issue. Hopefully not, but if there are things we should do to learn from this experience, I think it'd be helpful to do that. Uh but if it sounds like our staff is in touch with the speakers here already, I don't know if there are other options to pursue. if there are would encourage that in terms of conversations.

Yeah. And I know this is not on tonight's agenda, so we can't have too much discussion on it, but um if staff can look at this proposed municipal code to um prevent something similar from happening in the future, that's great. Madame Mayor, members of the council, if the council has a consensus for staff to investigate and see if we can bring back something uh for council's consideration, we can definitely do that if that's the council's wishes. I'd like to recommend that. Um I I mean I feel for you because I'm looking at the before and after pictures and um you guys had beautiful views uh of the hillside. So and the community at large and I were able to get up in the morning on a clear day and see Catalina Island and now can't I I feel for you. So I I think whatever we can do to for other residents who might go through the same thing would be very useful. Um I I do remember time traveling to Switzerland with my wife and and they had um these red flags and just items posted. Um but there was a development that was coming and it gave people in the community a chance to see if their views were going to be obstructed. Um and they had like a whole month to kind of not suggesting anything but I thought that was very unique in terms of how they did that so that people had an opportunity to see how their views were going to be obstructed if any um and had an opportunity to to share those. I'm I'm also kind of curious and and to council member Low's point, I don't know how much we can do now to try to help remedy the situation, but I think we thank you for coming in and and bringing this to our attention because it could potentially save someone else's view. Um, but whatever we can do on our side, if we haven't reached out to the Mr. Lou, um, see there's something we can work out amicably between them, that would be useful as well. But I would I would love to see something brought forth for council to

consider. Thank you.

All right. Noted. Um thank you all the public speakers. That's all the public communications we have. Um I know we have a presentation. Um can we move presentation item eight before staff communications. All right. So let's do presentation because we have our Miss LA Chinatown Victoria Yip here with us tonight. Yes. Good evening, Mayor Elizabeth Yang, Montering Park City Council, and esteemed guests. My name is Victoria Yep, and I am the current Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Queen. And I want to share with you that Monterey Park is not just where I live, it is where I began. I was born at Garfield Medical Center, raised at Monterey Highlands Elementary School, and shaped at Mark Keell High School, and carried forward in the University of California, Irvine. Thank you, mayor and councilman, for not only recognizing me, but for contributing to make Monterey Park into the place that it is and for it to be continuously thriving and deeply rooted in culture. And especially, thank you to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles for creating a space where young women like me are allowed to thrive and preserve heritage and stand as a beacon for what's to become. I will never forget my roots and because that is the reason why I have wings. I'm proud to be from Honory Park and most importantly I'm proud to be yours. Thank you. And also just on the topic of public safety, I got hit by a bike today. Um and so I guess it's really important to consider waiting times if you're on the

sidewalk. True story. My knee is kind of busted because of that, but we show up anyway. Thank you so much. Have a good one.

Well, um, thank you. Oh, stay stay here. We have a certificate of recognition for you. Um, we're so proud to have one of our own residents be this year's Miss LA Chinatown um, queen. I know last year we also had another Miss La Chinatown uh princess as a uh Monterey Park resident. So we have a certificate on behalf of the city in recognition of your outstanding grace, poise and dedication in representing the Chinese American community and for embodying cultural pride, leadership, and commitment to community service. Thank you and congratulations on behalf of our city council.

Thank you so much. We get out of our seat. Thank you.

I know. All right, now we can go back to staff communications. First up, public works. Hi, good evening mayor, mayor prom and members of the city council. So I ban public works manager. Uh next slide please. Uh this month is our last month uh for our wear disposal survey. Wear disposal is um offering the opportunity for residents and customers to provide feedback on trash services. The survey has been running for a couple months now. It's available in three languages. So, we encourage the community if they haven't had the opportunity to submit any responses to submit a response for um customer service, areas of improvement, and just educational opportunities that wear can provide for the community. So, before you move on from that one, do you know how many we uh responses we have gotten so far?

We have gotten um I believe about a 100 responses in total in all three languages. So, we're definitely continuing to promote the survey through our social media and our cascades and also where disposal um has sent it with their billing cycle. So, um we're encouraging people to continue to provide feedback if possible. Next, we have our quarterly cleanup event coming up this Saturday, April 4th at Barnes Park. Um, this event is held quarterly and we're collecting e-waste bulky items and also offering shredding services on a first come first-s serve basis. If uh residents are not able to attend, we do remind them that part of their residential trash services includes free bulky item pickup. They just need to call wear disposal to schedule it. And they also get um e-waste pickup as well. That's limited to four times a year while bulky items is unlimited throughout the whole year. So we encourage everyone to attend this Saturday. Then also on April 11th, we're hosting our annual Earth Day celebration in conjunction with our cherry blossom festival. And this year we're actually um celebrating Arbor Day as well. So part of tonight's agenda is consideration for a resolution to proclaim Arbor Day here in the city of Monterey Park. This would be the first time that the city would be doing this and it's part of our efforts to gain um Tree City USA recognition through the Arbor Day Foundation and um the city has been working to meet the requirements and uh hosting an Arbor Day celebration is part of the requirements and so this would uh be the final step to to be able to apply and so if approved we would apply for recognition and we would be able to have um signage throughout the city that we are a Tree City USA uh

community who prioritizes tree um urban forestry in the community, tree maintenance, tree management. Um and so we um encourage you to consider the item today for approval. And lastly, we want to provide an update on the Garfield water main project. Um so this week crews were working along Coral View and Keller to install a new vault and a median um in that area as part of the water project. It did require for reduction of traffic to one lane on both sides and so we anticipate this construction to be completed at the end of April. Uh we have placed social media um uh social media posts about the project giving advanced notice to residents in this area to expect delays or to take alternate routes. That concludes the announcements. Thank you. Any questions? Uh one question for the Garfield water improvements project. Once the water improvements are done, the uh is Garfield going to be repaved? Good evening again. Um, yes, the the the plan is to uh pave that section of Garfield from Graves down to Coral View. So, that would completed shortly after the the water main project.

Great. On both both directions, correct? Great. And uh yeah, Council Member Sanchez, Sean, I just had a quick question for you. Um well, first of all, thank you for the information and uh great to see a lot of uh great work coming. Uh but uh do we happen to have um any future date in mind for hazard hazardous waste collection? I think that's part of

So the city participates through uh for hazardous waste collection through the county's program. Uh last year we were able to host hazardous waste collection through a grant. So um it isn't part of our quarterly uh cleanup events, but we are looking at grant opportunities to be able to host it again. Um so residents do have the opportunity to go to the county's popup events, which they're held in different cities in the San Gabriel Valley, and we usually try to promote all of their events as well. Do we know of any that are coming? I believe the next one I saw is uh for this month, but it's in Maywood.

Um yeah, but there is a a website um is for the county uh hazardous waste that has all of the upcoming for about the whole year. I have a couple cans of paint that I'm trying. Thank you, Sean.

Thank you both. Next up, 7B Community Development. Good evening, Madame Mayor, members of the city council. Thank you for the opportunity to present. I'm excited to share the economic progress and momentum we've built since our last update to city council in October 2025. Next slide, please. Although we've had several new businesses open since October, we have officially welcomed six of those new businesses to our community with formal ribbon cutting ceremonies. These range from wellness and beauty of businesses like Swank Hair Salon and Reworkme Fitness Center to unique culinary additions such as Yihoi Coffee, Thai houses second location in Monterey Park, Gladadio deos Mexican Restaurant and the Asayoru Made Cafe. Each of these ceremonies represent a new investment in our city's future. Next slide, please. Since October, we've held five successful meet up with the mayor sessions at local landmarks like Litz Shinano Japanese Restaurant and Jump in Lumpster. These informal gatherings provide a casual but vital platform for the city to hear directly from residents and business owners while showcasing our local businesses. Next, please. We've also been active in broader community engagement. Highlights include coordinating business visits with Senator uh Sasha Bnee Perez, our first Christmas tree lighting at Atlantic Times Square since before the pandemic,

and the Economic and Business Development Commission's co-hosting of the Lunar New Year Festival. We are constantly looking for ways to blend commerce with community spirit. Next, please. Just yesterday on March 31, we convened a roundt for shopping center and asset managers at the Brogimire Library. We brought together commercial stakeholders to brainstorm creative long-term solutions for filling vacant spaces and revitalizing Monterey Park's commercial properties. A key part of this session was a market intelligence briefing from CoStar to ensure our strategies were data driven. Co-star, a leading provider of commercial real estate information, reported a general improvement trend in Monterey Park's retail market. Next, please. I am also thrilled to announce that nominations for our second annual community choice awards open today, April 1st. This year, we are especially excited to add a new subcategory under favorite restaurant, favorite coffee or te-pot. We hope this addition will generate increased Instagram and Facebook activity and excitement among our younger residents and foodies. Excuse me. Residents can scan the QR code to nominate their favorite establishments through May 31st and we will announce the winners at the state of the city event on June 9th. Next, please. Looking ahead to at to the Olympics, we are hosting another LA28 readiness or supply readiness webinar on April 7. This session co-hosted with the new women's business center will help our local small business businesses navigate the procurement portal and understand the certifications needed to land Olympic size contracts. Next, please. Our meet up with the mayor continues

next week at Crystal Palace Restaurant on April 9, followed by a meetup at Marie Calendars on May 12th. We invite the public to join us for these casual conversations and support the host businesses. Next, please. Finally, please mark your calendars for April 17 for the grand opening of the ELAC or East Los Angeles College Susan Rubio Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center. This is a firstofits-kind partnership between ELAC and the city of Monterey Park, providing an innovative hub and a nocost resource to drive economic growth right here in Monterey Park. Next, and that is it. Thank you. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Joel, congrats on uh presenting and thank you for all that great news on I I think there are more than the six businesses that open, but you highlighted the six that we actually attended and that was part of the city's uh ribbon cutting. Uh that's kudos to the team, your staff for helping organize that and help them generate the business so that they can have longevity and continue to stay. Now I wasn't at the meeting with the uh business owners and uh asset managers but I I see the room full of people who continue to contribute and create that positive for maintaining and and growing the business in city. So thank you for that as well. I would add my kudos. Appreciate all that we're doing the economical team is doing. Uh just have a quick question. How I know the new chamber rear chamber is in action. Have we been able to collaborate a lot and just curious your views on how that's been going from our perspective on the city side?

We have been uh we continue our um direction and trajectory on what we've already started beginning from the last couple of years. So we continue doing our webinars, we continue doing our workshops and our rebound cutting ceremonies. Um you know and so far we have not had any opportunity to consolidate any of those activities with the chamber. U hopefully that's the events will go but right now we continue to do what we've been doing to support our community. So, we has has the chamber reached out at all to partner on anything? I'm just curious. Not to my knowledge.

Well, if there not on our specific events, let's put it that way. Have they invited the city to support or participate in any of their events other than inviting the council members? I go ahead,

uh, Council Member Wong, I'm happy to just, uh, do a little bit of brag for, uh, uh, Joe here because he's, uh, he's so humble. Uh, yeah, absolutely. We have a, uh, we're we're in consistent communication with the chamber, the new chamber's leadership. Um, we meet with them regularly. Um and we like to think of them as uh you know advisers uh providing them feedback um as they are still in their sort of nent infancy stages of you know forming that organization determining pathway and how which direction they're going to go. Uh but uh Joe actually uh was had the opportunity to be their uh keynote at their uh Lunar New Year uh gayla. Um, so yeah, the the relationship is strong there and we look forward to seeing them progress. Um, and as they progress, we'll look for opportunities for collaboration.

No, appreciate that. Hope that we can to where it makes sense for us to partner. Obviously, we should do that. Appreciate being able to that we are doing that. Um, and where we can plug them in where it makes sense. Let's look at that, too. Thank you, Joe. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.

Sorry. Sorry. I was just going to uh comment, madame mayor, members of the council, we could um ask the chamber to come back to council and and provide an update so council could hear from the chamber on their um membership and activities. Um that way we have an understanding too of potential partnership opportunities that we can engage um with. So if the council's interested, we can definitely reach out and see if they're available to come to a future council meeting. I I think that'd be great. would love to invite the chamber to come report out.

In fact, if we can schedule them regularly to come at least once or twice a year and give us updates. But Joe, I'm secretly always excited to see your presentations because I like seeing uh what new developments, what new businesses are coming in. So, uh thank you for your presentation. And I I know that a lot of us were a lot at a lot of the ribbon cutings and meet up with the mayors, but I think that um for the last couple of years, we've done a really good job or you've done a really good job of promoting business in the city and promoting a lot of the businesses um and some of them that I haven't even visited but now now regularly do. And I think those are really working for people to u become familiar with new restaurants that they that might already even be in the city or new ones that are just coming in. So, um just very thankful for all the work that you're doing.

Um again, thank you as always for making uh these updates um for not just us but the community as well. Um uh what I also just encourage too is that um um where capacity is possible. I think that um some of these um um updates, you know, we should probably also always post on our city's website um as well as um you like a summary just so people when they want to ask us council members, oh, you know, what are some of the um uh economic development progress? We can always point to say, oh, go to website, there's a section in which we have updates um and it's regularly updated. Yeah, thank you so much Joe for all your efforts in organizing so many events the last few months the meet up with the mayor supporting our local businesses ribbon cutings you and your team really uh make an impact on our local businesses. Um what I would like to see I know last year around July there was um an economic development presentation where uh projects like Dumbling Dumpling or um the ABC Plaza Celadon even the drive-through Starbucks were presented to us. Um we'd love to have another follow-up presentation since it's been almost a year to see the followup on some of the developments that were um covered back in July last year. Madame Mayor, uh members of the council, we'll be happy to put together the most recent update and present it to city council when the opportunity arises.

Thank you so much. Yeah, great job to you and your team. Thank you. Thank you also, Tim.

All right, next up is the library. All right. Good evening, mayor, mayor prom, council members. Uh, my name is Summer Blake and I am the senior librarian for children's services at the Monterey Park Bugamire Library. Uh just to recap some of what we did in March, uh across all departments, we held a total of 161 programs uh for the library with a total attendance of 3,043 uh community members. All right. And then this slide just shows a little sampling of some of what we were able to do in March. We have um an image from our monthly program, Toddler Art and Play. Uh in the top middle there, there's a picture from our Bridg Bridgetgerton inspired tea party. Uh and then the top right that is from our monthly program, Science Squad. Um on the bottom we have a picture from a teen craft noon program. Next to that is a picture from our monthly uh Dungeons and Dragons program for children. And then we have a picture from a toddler dance party which is for children ages zero to five. And then finally in the bottom corner we have a picture from uh a program that was a workshop called smart shopping with Calresh uh culturally relevant nutrition made easy. All right. So coming up uh this month in April we have uh quite a lot on our plates. Uh first thing we want to highlight is um our celebration of National Library Week which will take

place uh from April 20th to April 25th. Uh the theme this year is finding is find your joy. Um so to celebrate this we will have um a few different events going on at the library and then we will also have this right here which is our passport to reading. So um in this this will be available for all ages. Um we have um just a few little fun things in there and then the highlight of it is a few different activities that we have listed which are going to highlight some of our programs and services and different things that people might not be aware of and encourage them to explore throughout the library. Um and if they complete all of the activities then they can get a little prize um from any of our service desks. So I have this if anybody would like to look at it. Um, and yes, so that is our National Library Week celebration. All right, for adult services, we have a few programs that we wanted to highlight. The first one is the bird walk and talk with Pasadena Ottabon Society. That will be on Saturday, April 25th at 10:30 a.m. Um, where participants can meet in the friends room and hear a talk about birding and kind of give an introduction to birding for the public. And that talk will be followed by venturing outside into Barnes Park where there will be um a walk um and kind of birding session uh for the participants. And then the participants also will have an opportunity to um win a um a birding backpack, a beginner's birding pack, which will include binoculars and a pocket guide and also a copy of the book The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. So this um program does require registration just to let everyone know. Um all right and then this next program is also an adult

services program. This is the spring gardening workshop. Uh this we are doing with a University of California master gardener. It is a hands-on workshop and um for this one they will have the chance um all of the participants will have the chance to learn a bit more about taking care of flowers, vegetables and other companion plants in small gardening spaces. Um there is also uh registration recommended for this one because it does have a limited capacity. All right, moving on to our teen services. Uh we have a program uh prepare for your future success. This is a career preparedness workshop for teens presented um along with Chinatown service center. Uh this program is a workshop where teens will have the opportunity to learn about different career paths. They will learn um interview skills and connect with professionals from Chinatown Service Center. All right. Another uh fun teen program we have is the chance to visit the Vincent Price Art Museum. Um there is no cost for this program. Teens do need to provide their own transportation. Uh but this is just another uh great way we have of highlighting some of what Monterey Park has to offer. Um I think some teens might not even be aware of this museum. So it's a chance to go through with our um teen services librarian and see some of what our city has to offer. All right. Right. In the realm of children's services, uh we have our Books and Buccaneers pirate party. This will be taking place on Thursday, April 23rd at 4 p.m. We'll have activities all throughout the children's department. Uh we're doing this in conjunction with that National Library Week celebration that I mentioned earlier. There will be all sorts of fun activities in different areas of the children's department, including a scavenger hunt, crafts, and

a walk the plank um sort of obstacle course, which will be really fun for kids. Then we have a sto a craft story time in celebration of de los ninos um which is also known as children's day or book day. Uh this is a national literacy initiative which encourages children and their families and to connect with diverse books. um and languages. So, this is a bilingual English and Spanish story time which will be followed by a craft. Um and this is encouraged for children of all ages who speak any language. Um and it will be a held on Thursday, April 30th at 400 p.m. in the storytime room. And then the last thing we want to make sure that we mention is the upcoming play days reading program. This is a reading program that we do in uh alongside the recreation department. Um so we are encouraging children to read as always but of course um extra this month from April 6th to May 6th if they track their reading um through our program Beanstack which you can find on our website. Um if they read four hours over the course of that month they can earn a ticket for a free ride at the Play Days uh carnival. And so that can be picked up at the library and any questions um people can call the children's desk and they just have to track their reading online and come into the library to pick up their reading ticket. All right, so that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Mayor, may I great presentation. I just love what the the library has to offer. I mean, I I heard 110 programs over 3,000 people and just personal. I was just there about an hour ago. I needed to print something, but my printer's down. So, I went to the library. I was able to print and I realized something. I was talking to

Kristen. I like, "Wait a minute. Where all the students today?" because there were probably 10% students tonight at around 5:15 p.m. They didn't realize they're on spring break, but the library is still filled with adults. So, you got people from all over the community using the library. So, good job in doing that. Thanks.

Thank you. I mean, just the fact that we have a calendar. Um, I'm running out of wall space in in our office at home. I have so many calendars put up, but I have a new one to put up. Um, you know, to add to the, you know, data center joke. I I don't I don't understand why we need a data center in the city when we already have one across the street full of books. Um but uh and not just books, a lot of the programming that we have is just really amazing from bird watching um story time. I every time I go to the library with my girls, there's always something happening. It's just so vibrant and so such a great space to be in. So really appreciate all the work and all the programming that you guys put together uh to make this happen for families in the city. We I I I still say it to this day that we have the best library in the San Gabriel Valley. So thank you so much for all that you guys do.

Thank you. And just to add to these voices of um positivity, um I always appreciate that um our library also is a space uh to uh educate the community about important uh services um such as CalFresh and not just CalFresh, but also when we do the um uh free legal clinics um and other services. It just I think reinforces idea that this is not just a library but also a vital community resource as well for not just the city but for the region as well. Thank you very much and keep up the good work. Madame Mayor, I just want to also add just a quick plug. They also do passport services. Um I got my passports there um and applied for them there and just the one-on-one help because I know applying for passports can be a little stressful with all of the paperwork. So I really appreciated um have being able to sit with a librarian and just walk through the application uh and just pay them directly. um was really amazing. But uh just wanted to do that because I know that um I don't know if it's underused or not, but you know the service is there. Yeah.

Yeah. I think 161 programs in one month is just amazing. Um and then impacting over 3,000 people. Um I I personally attended the Bridgetton uh tea and that was an amazing event. Really creative. So, your team is coming up with some really awesome ideas for events and this April calendar looks awesome, too. And I'll share the Vincent Price Art Museum with my teens as well as the career preparedness workshop. So, really great programs. Keep up the good work. Thank you very much.

All right. Thank you, library. Next up, we have recreation and community services. Good evening, mayor, mayor prom, and members of the city council. My name is Alejandra Sa, and I'm a recreation coordinator with the city of Monterey Park. Um, starting off, we would like to thank everyone uh for joining us at our annual spring egg hunt event. We had a large crowd of over 30 thou, sorry, 30,000 participants enjoying an afternoon filled with bunny pictures, uh, craft activities, and over 20,000 eggs. Um, it was lots of fun. Next slide, please. Next, we would like to invite everyone to join us at this year's Cherry Blossom event. Um, it will be taking place next week on Saturday uh from 11 to 7:00 and on Sunday from 11 to 6. There will be a wide variety of food vendors, performances, cultural exhibits, and live performances. Uh, next slide, please. Next, we have a few Langley Center activities. Um, in honor of Mother's Day, we will be having a Mother's Day treat where the community can purchase a $ five dollar voucher to gift a mother, a grandmother, or a loved one um over the age of 50. Uh, that $5 voucher can then be redeemed at Langley Center by booking an appointment for any time the week of May 4th through May 8th for a nail polish appointment. Uh, vouchers are now available for purchase. And then on Thursday, April 23rd from 1 to 3, we'll be having a rock and roll themed dance with live entertainment, um, snacks and beverages. Next slide, please. Last but not least, please join us uh May 7th through May 10th as we celebrate Monterey Park's birthday at Playdays. Uh, this 4-day event will consist of carnival rides, food, uh, games, live music, and so much more. In conjunction with Playdays, join us on May 7th for our tribute to Cinco de Mayo, a celebration from 5 to 10. This will feature special live performances and also offer our farmers market vendors.

And that concludes our presentation. Uh I'll be happy to answer any questions. All right. Great events and looking forward to the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival. Thanks for a great Easter egg hunt as well. Thank you. All right, that's all for staff communication. So, let's go on to our consent calendar. Um, anyone want to pull any items?

Uh, yes. Um, Madame Mayor, I'd like to pull open. Uh, sorry. Oops. Place. In the meantime, while Mr. Low Fine says, uh, I'd like to pull item 10D, please. Oh, yeah. Actually, that was pull. Okay. Yeah, I was going to pull that one. 10D. I'll pull 10 G as well. 10D. 10G. All right. Any motion to approve?

I'll move the remaining items. All right. Council member Wong and then council member Go seconds. Let's vote. Approved unanimously. All right. Let's get a presentation on 10D creation of a subcommittee on the St. Gabriel Valley Council of Government's SGV forward project proposal.

Thank you. Uh good evening madame mayor and city council. Diana Garcia, assistant city manager. The evening before you tonight is a receive and fileformational item and we're also asking if desired uh for council to appoint two members to serve on a subcommittee to decide the SGV COGS SGV forward project proposal. So, city council members have expressed some interest in engaging with other adjoining cities regarding the SGV COGS SGV forward project. If interested, um, cities may appoint two city council members to create a subcommittee to convene and discuss the proposed changes on Garvey Avenue. Um, they can discuss and those include the bus rapid transit lanes, BRT lanes, traffic signal prioritization, and enhanced stops to be completed prior to the 2028 Olympic Games. Um at their March 10th, 2026 city council meeting, the Rosemead City Council selected two members to serve on this subcommittee. Um the city of Elmonte is interested in participating as well and is expected to appoint members in the near future. Um and uh South Elmani may also consider propos uh proposing two members to serve on this subcommittee. The subcommittee is still in its early stages of development. There's no defined meeting schedule yet, but the hope would be to have the first meeting um before the start of summer. The goal of the subcommittee would be to uh have the COG present directly their changes, their proposed changes to the subcommittee and then allow the subcommittee to discuss and submit their feedback directly to the COG on the proposed changes. That completes my staff report. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you for that presentation, Diana. Um, anyone interested in serving on the subcommittee? You want to? Oh, okay. Okay. So, our mayor prom Henry is interested. I was just going to nominate council member Sanchez since he already sits on the metro service council. I think it' be a good opportunity to combine those efforts a little bit.

Yeah. Yeah, and I just wanted to add that we we just actually on the Metro Service Council just received a a presentation from the SGV COG about this proposal. And I know that's something that Metro is is heavily looking at in in preparation for the World Cup, but also for um for the Olympics. And I know there's going to be a lot of metro things that are going to be happening in LA to accommodate for uh the millions of people that are going to be coming into LA for the FIFA World Cup and for the um Olympics. So this is something that um is that we're on the service council for the San Bro Valley already looking at. So um I would like to nominate myself.

Well, uh Thomas already nominated me so I would gladly accept. All right. So, I just want before we move forward, I just want to confirm for the record uh Carl that two council members have property interest uh within whatever feet of Garvey Avenue this project is potential. I know it's a planning project uh and discussion, not a specific project that's going to be built, but just want to confirm that we can all engage on. Uh thank you, Madame Mayor, members of the council. The agenda item has to do with appointing somebody to a subcommittee on a different public entity. So, uh, you're in the clear with regard to any of that. Great. Anyone want to make a motion? Actually, I have a question. Um,

I I know I know the item the question is to point to uh uh council, but can we also point alternative in the event that one of us cannot make it? I'm curious or is that something we can do along the way or later like an alternate? If if there's no answer, that's fine. I mean, I just brought it up, but that's fine. We can take action, but just wanted to bring that up. So, Madame Mayor, members of the council, I frankly it makes sense. I don't know that there's any prohibition on selecting an alternate. So, I think it would help from from staff standpoint if there was somebody so that if somebody was sick that we didn't have to search around for somebody else. Okay.

Anyone want to be an alternate? I can be an alternate. Okay. Anyone else? No. All right. Anyone want to make a motion? I'll make that motion nominating uh Councilman Low and Sanchez as the primary and then Mayor Yang as the alternate.

All right. Any second. All right. Council member W seconds. Let's vote. Approved unanimously. All right. Thank you. Uh moving on to our next item. 10G 2025 Monterey Park General Plan and Housing Elements annual progress report. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Prom, and members of the city council. Tonight I will be I will provide a brief over overview of the 2025 general plan and housing element annual progress report. Sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is Elana Munoz. I'm the senior planner. This report is prepared to meet the state the the state requirements for an annual update on the city's general plan. It summarizes the city's progress throughout 2025, including ongoing implementation of key policies and programs. The city last completed a comprehensive general plan update in 2001. Since then, several elements have been added or updated, including sustainable and healthy communities, land use, safety, environmental justice, and the housing element. I'll be going through a brief through brief updates on each of these elements included in our general plan. The first element is the land use

element. The land use element was updated in 2019 and continues to guide development. In 2025, the city adopted ordinances to align with state housing laws, support affordable housing replacement, uh reszone sites for housing, and allow residential and mixeduse development. Next is the economic development element. The city continues to support a strong local economy following its 2024 economic development strategic plan. In 2025, efforts focused on small business support, educational workshops, networking events, and shop local campaigns. Circulation elements. The city continued improving its transportation network through street surfacing, sidewalk repairs, ADA upgrades, and traffic improvements. In 2025, this included nearly 8 miles of resurface streets and ongoing major corridor projects along with evaluation of transit services to make these more accessible and efficient. Under the safety and e and community services element, the city advanced emergency preparedness through staff training and community programs like Cert. The updated local hazard mitigation plan was also adopted in 2025 which improved eligibility for funding. Police also launched a public crime information portal and hosted community meetings and the city continued hosting major community events. resource element. The city continued investing in parks, facilities, and open space, completing upgrades across multiple parks and public buildings. In 2025, the city also adopted its first

park system master plan to guide through to guide future improvements and community engagement. Healthy community elements. The city promoted community health through events, workshops, and outreach programs focused on mental health, wellness, and public safety. The park system master plan also supported this long-term health and recreation planning. Sustainable community elements. The city continued sustainable sustainability efforts through programs like going green, promoting recycling, composting, and clean energy. In 2025, initiatives included solar permitting and expanded waste reduction programs. And finally, sorry, not finally, under our environmental justice element, the city continued to prioritize equity by expanding community engagement opportunities, including workshops, public meetings, and outreach in disadvantaged communities, and both in person and online. Now, this is finally next is the housing element. The housing element was comprehensively updated in 2022 and certified by HCD in March 2023. It guides actions to meet housing needs through our through this sixth sixth uh RENA cycle which runs through 2021 through 2029. The city's reena allocation is 5,257 units across all income levels from extremely low and above to above moderate. In 2025, the city issued building permits for 85 new residential units and advanced implementation of housing programs including amended stand in which included the amendment to standards to ensure that our ADU and Jun

junior ADU um ordinance are were consistent with state law. We established a new municipal code section requiring requiring the replacement of units affordable to the same or low lower income level as a condition of development on a non-veac site. We also reszone specific properties included in the current site's inventory to accommodate housing. And we amended standards to provide that residential and mixeduse developments are permitted when allowed by the land use designation. And the slide here uh lists all of the units uh to which a building permit was issued and its corresponding affordability level. And so this concludes my presentation. We uh recommend for the city council to receive and file the 2025 general plan and housing element annual progress report. direct staff to forward a copy of this report to the governor's office of planning your research and HCD by April 1st, 2026 and taking such related um additional action that may be desirable and that concludes my presentation. We are available for any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate the staff report on this. I know this is an annual report we have to submit to HUD uh and to HCD, excuse me. Um can you just I just want to highlight this because it's very important. So uh the 2021 to 2029 uh arena allocation about 5200 5200 something right? So on to be on pace for that we'd have to facilitate a development of 570 or so units uh residential units in the city a year. uh correct me if I'm wrong right the number of building permits residential building building permits issued last year was 85 so far below 500 uh and can you remind do you know I don't know if you off know offhand the last year or the last few years kind of about where we were at in terms of residential building permits I if I'm not mistaken we're we were not beyond 100 either in any of those years

that's correct mayor U mayor and city council member uh Wong. Yes. So um actually in 2021 I'll go through some of the years that we do have. We had 10. In 2022 we reported 67. 2023 we reported 67. 2024 45. And last year today we are reporting 85.

Great. So we're making a little progress. It's going up. that uh safe to say and safe to characterize that we are woefully behind uh as a city in terms of building housing and getting housing built uh in relation to what the state's requirements are knowing that the city doesn't build housing itself generally. Uh but even in the efforts that we have made and the progress we've made in terms of facilitating more housing residential units getting built in the city, we're still only seeing far right very low amounts of housing permits being issued, residential building permits being issued. Uh and even despite all our efforts, we're still very very behind in terms of the number of housing units compared to what the state has set a goal for us. And not to say that we're not and I don't think we're unique in this uh effort. When you look at our neighbors, I I'm pretty confident everyone is very far behind their their Rena numbers.

Council member Wong, that you are correct in in your um your opinion on that. Um, so to date from the years that I mentioned earlier to today, total units to date are 35 units for the city of Monterey Park. Um, we would like to mention though that we do have more than a thousand units in the pipeline um with projects that have not are not ready to come before you yet. Um, but it's it's worth mentioning that as well.

Yeah. No, I appreciate that. And I would just know tongue and cheek that a a large number of those units have been in the pipeline for a long time. Uh so uh I just want to point out this is no one's fault right in terms particularly for the city. Uh but we as a city and as a region are just super behind in terms of meeting the state's goals and even our own goals in terms of helping to get and building more housing that we need that we all recognize we need in the region and in the city. Uh and then just as a another highlight to this right 85 residential permits last year how many of those were ADUs? 70 something, right?

Sorry, I made a note on myself. 74 ADU were 80 were ADUs and 11 were single family dwellings. So for I mean just to highlight how far behind we are, right? Mo the vast majority I think the last few years as well most of of the majority at least if not the vast majority of the residential units the last few years as well were also mostly ADUs not not new condos or town houses or even single family homes you are correct yes from from um last year most were ADUs as well

so all that is I'm just belaboring the point not that anyone here's there's not a whole lot of people here but uh it's we need to build more housing in the city of Mari Park. Uh I think the city is making every effort. I think there's more we can of course do and I know the state is pushing hard. uh we signed on to we've continued to um right monitor state legislation and policy that's going on to help encourage additional housing, but there's a lot I think more we can do at the local level to spur this conversation on, facilitate more development in the city that we know we need to have if we're if we have any hope of addressing affordability concerns both here in Mari Park and in the wider region and really playing our role in calling on our neighbors as well to to do what we all need to do uh to help facilitate more residential development in the city. We are wfully behind. Um so just making that point on the economic um development element. I just had a couple comments questions. Um I'm on page 96 if anyone's following. But the small business financial support, right? We we noted the community development crop the CDBG uh funded s the small business assistance program that we set aside funding for. I'm just curious when we might be able to get I know we're not even through a full year of the operation but really eager to get some sort of report out on that program uh to so that we can evaluate and see what we want to do what this council might want to do and the city might want to do moving forward. I'd be interested in more of a of a revolving loan fund going into the future uh to potentially build that into the budget, but want to make sure we're getting um some sort of analysis and and feedback from the small business grant program uh from this past kind of pilot year before we move forward on anything formally. Um, and then the shop local initiatives. Really appreciate Joe presented before on some of the economic development

programs. Uh, but specifically what else we can do. Uh, I know the shop local program, Love Mary Park has been going on. We have a whole host of small business support programs and and uh right promotion programs as well, especially as we're getting closer and closer to the Olympics and we're expecting millions of visitors to come to the region uh in about two years. Uh would love to see how we can continue to bolster um right tourism and discover kind of Mari Park and shop local programs so that we are ready if there are other things we want to start to pilot or experiment with in the next year or so. so that we're ready to capitalize on the the influx of visitors that not only come outside the Olympics, but that are going to be here for the Olympics. Uh hopefully traveling on a BRT or whatever that might happen. Uh want to make sure we're we're checking out programs and and ideas and kind of letting those go in the next couple in the next year or so that we can be prepared to to leverage the the millions of visitors that will be coming uh to the area very shortly. And I know there is uh right along the back to some of the housing conversation. I know the legislature is looking at uh what else they can do to help speed up permitting. Um, right. We we've the state has worked on uh streamlining SQA and environmental reviews and trying to remove red tape and obstacles to permitting housing. Um, they're look like they're targeting potentially development fees uh as a potential source of of slowing down housing and making housing more affordable or less affordable if you have development fees. I know we're looking at uh our development fees and that structure. Uh, I think that'd be worth us having Town Townsen and others making sure we're

paying attention to that conversation in Sacramento uh because that could that would impact our finances uh in our budget specifically, but uh make sure we're monitoring housing legislation at the state level and federal level, but particularly at the state level that might impact our finances and also might we want to make sure we're implementing any new state laws as they come up that can help uh streamline the permitting process and approval process for for new housing. in the city. And that is all I have. Thank you, Council Member W. Noted.

Thank you. And I'll go ahead. I'll make the motion to adopt staff recommendation to submit and file this report. I'll second. Thank you. Let's vote. approved unanimously. All right, that concludes our consent agenda for tonight. Um, no new business, city communications.

I will start uh I will start by saying we have brand new pickleball courts. Uh where's Robert? Robert's he's Oh, he's on vacation this week with spring break. But thank you, Robert. and uh parks and rec staff for redoing uh a few of the pickle ball tennis courts in the area. And uh council member Sanchez pointed uh the fact that we actually had the national pickle ball month resolution which we uh voted on, but I just wanted to bring that up. Couple of things also. This past week, um, uh, the mayor and I, uh, actually attended the grand opening of the Milk and Company restaurant. We were also at the, uh, the the the Saturday before, same same week, actually, we're at the Sable Valley Pub, the uh, celebration for the swimmers who took place a couple of months ago at the amphitheater. Then I also visited the service the park. Um the Olsen company is looking to build a project and they were engaging the community input. So I was there that morning as well. And then of course the egg hunt at Barnes Park. Uh I think it was over 3,000 kids, but I think it was over 10,000 eggs that was given that day. One thing I look I looked at this year was I tracked to see if there were complaints in Facebook compared to last year and I absolutely didn't see any which meant staff did an incredible job making sure not only the kids but the parents more importantly the parents were able to find the kids. And I mean you can just see how chaotic this is. 3,000 kids all over Barnes Park looking after eggs. They they had a good system

with wristbands, age groups, in out, and then they had the uh toddlers with the Easter Bunny with the prizes. So, good job doing that. Um, and also uh council member uh actually Mayor Prom Henry Low and I attended Mar Vista Centennial Celebration uh few weeks ago. So Mari Vista celebrated 100 years. It's actually the second oldest school in the city of Mari Park next to the school of Ines which is about 12 years old something like that. So we're blessed to have two centennial schools in the city of Mari Park. That's all I got. Uh just one comment. I know we already passed it on consent calendar the resolution celebrating Earth Day and Arbor Day. Just want to wish everyone uh happy Earth because that'll happen before our next council meeting and also to encourage people to visit our cherry blossom festival which will be happening April 11th and 12th. Uh also on on that note just a note to to Sean I know we're waving we approved just now waving the spirit bus and the MBK transit express fairs for Earth week um which I'm totally fine with. I just want to note for my own perspective the MPA Transit Express fees uh I'm open to adjusting those fees. It looks like I mean I think we could increase those moderately or slightly uh to really just toggle some demand. It looks like we've got tremendous demand on MPK Transit Express. they're still heavily subsidized rides. Uh, and if there's a way to, uh, if there are adjustments that make sense for us to make on the fairs for that, that still right land on a sweet spot of making sure this is something that's publicly accessible, but also uh, helps recoup some of the costs in terms of the subsidy. I'm open to adjusting the the fairs going forward

in some way, shape, or form, too. But that I'll just add that note for food for thought. I wanted to um well, I wanted to thank council member Wong for um bringing up the housing um and our reena numbers, but I'm also very um and and and add emphasis on the dire need for housing in the city. But I also wanted to say that this it was it's it's gratifying and and also hopeful to see that there's some development in terms of housing that looks like coming to the city. Um, I was able to attend the Osen um, uh, meeting um, at Sierra Vista Park. Uh, so I know there's the Osen company that's uh, trying to build housing. I know tomorrow uh, there's going to be meeting at the um, at the um,

Marie Calendarers. Thank you. Uh, for the Deerfield Plaza as a potential for future housing um, as well. So um, you know, whatever we can do to help with bringing these projects forward. But I also wanted to say um that recently, in fact, just yesterday um we celebrated um you uh farm workers day and there's been a recent change um in um in that holiday. Um I also I I know that the city put out a statement regarding Cesar Chavez and Cesar Chavez day only because uh uh Bonita Cesar Chavez runs through our city particularly in my district and I I know I got a lot of emails from residents in my district uh who are asking and inquiring about the future in terms of the naming of that city and uh I'm sorry of the street and I know that the street in my opinion uh starts in Monterey Park and goes through the rest of um Los Angeles but um whatever we can do in terms of uh keeping the council updated in terms of whether it's the the you know the LA County Board of Supervisors of the state in terms of renaming of um Cesar Chavez Avenue um and whatever we can do to um contribute to that uh to keep in the spirit of the farmworker movement um would be greatly appreciated. Um this is also Holy Week for those of us who are Christian um and this past Sunday was Palm Sunday um and Easter is this Sunday. So just wanted to wish people a happy Easter. um this week. Um a lot of um religious events happening this week. So um in fact, my promised my daughters I'd wear this blue because of pastel colors uh for Easter. So tomorrow I'm wearing pink. Uh but different colors. They got me different colored shirts and sweaters and stuff like that. But anyhow, to keep in in in the spirit of Easter, but I wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter. Thank you.

Uh thank you. Um I'll be brief. I attended a lot of the same events that my colleagues attended. But I do want to also just give a special shout out to Monterey Vista um elementary school for celebrating their centennial. Um and um uh as a former schoolboard member for the Garvey School District with Mr. Van Go. Um again, it's a tremendous milestone and um we it's also I'd like to point out that Mon Vista um along with its other Garvey School, Hillrest, um are both um very high achieving schools and I think that's a credit to the very involve deep involvement by the parents in his PTA. I know at some point at one point um Vista boasted a 100% membership of the PTA. I don't know if it still is 100% membership, but but given how busy parents are, the fact that a school can boast 100% uh PTA uh membership is something to be proud of. And so I think just an example where I think when it comes to um great schools, it it is u dependent on involvement by not just uh parents but also support of the community. So again, congratulations to Monre Vista. Madame Mayor, if I could say just one more thing, uh I forgot to mention um um the Monterey Park is very unique in that it has uh four different school districts uh that serve our students. Um in my district, in the southern part of Monterey Park, um we have um three different school districts. We literally have Montabella Unified, Ellie Unified, and Alhamra Unified that all uh live within my district. But um I would be remiss if I didn't mention that uh some of the high school students that live in my district attend SH High School, I'm sorry, yeah, Sher High School. And some of them attend um actually Garfield High School. And this year, for the first time in LA USD history, um actually Garfield High School won the LA USD academic decathlon.

Um it's the first time that's ever happened. And so actually I do have that I know of uh in my block about four students that attend Garfield High School. So uh I know that we are honoring uh Mark Keell High School on their um second place win. Um but wanted to make sure that we also acknowledge um Garfield High School because a lot of those students live in Monterey Park as well. Great idea. Um and welcome them for their first time when um as champions. Actually, I got an opportunity to meet them and their coach um at the state competition um and they did really well. So, at a future meeting before the school year ends, we can bring them in and acknowledge them as well.

Madame Mayor, members of the council, we do have um both Marbell High School and Garfield High School students um planned tenatively for our April 15th meeting to be recognized. So, yes, noted. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Um I think my colleagues uh covered all the events pretty much. Um I just wanted to put for the record that we did get a letter from HMC Stratcap yesterday um withdrawing their data center application. So this letter has been posted on the website for the city and um we have a special meeting uh on Monday, April 20th at 7 p.m. 7 p.m. All right. Anything else? No. Okay, then we will be adjouring right now at 8:16 p.m. Have a good night.