City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. She's going to be our fill-in because our civic superstar didn't show up.

I've done it before. You've done it before. OK.

So when you, I will have you hold the mic. So what's going to happen is that you've been to a council meeting. You've seen it, right? Uh-huh.

I've done it before. I've done it before. Oh, she's already done it.

What's your name again?

Hildy.

Hildy. And what's your last name?

Wilson.

Hildy Wilson. Hildy Wilson.

That's right, that's right.

Well, hello, hello, hello. Hello, good evening and welcome to today's meeting of the city council on this day, September 16th. Welcome, welcome, welcome. First, let me, well, we've called them into order. Let me now do our land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhabit today was known as Talvangar, the home of the Gabulino-Tongva people. We show our respect to the Gabulino-Tongva 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 Gabulino-Tongva people, invite you to acknowledge the history, and join us in caring for this land. Okay, flag salute, please rise. And I believe we have a special guest, Ms. Hildy Wilson, is that correct, who will lead us in a flag salute? Yes, okay, well, everyone please put your right hand over your heart, and Hildy, oh, I'm sorry. Oh, oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Color guard, sorry, sorry, I'm a little too eager a beaver today.

Outward face. Present colors.

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

Order. Colors. Outward face. Forward march.

Post code.

Okay. Oh, okay.

Yeah, can we? Yeah, so thank you. And thank you very much, Hildy, for improvising and doing our Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you so much.

We'll get her certificate. Yeah, yeah. It was an impromptu.

We'll get her a second one. Yeah.

Good.

Good job. Good job.

Do you want to take two photos or get one?

That one's right here.

All right. Zero, one, two, and.

Awesome.

Okay Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Yang?

Present.

Council Member Go?

Present.

Council Member Wong?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez?

Present.

Mayor Low?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you so much. Okay. Mayor, if I could just very briefly thank Hilde. This is her second time she's actually done this. And I know she already got a certificate, so maybe we can give her a key for the city this time.

Well said. Thank you so much. Thank you again, Hildy. Okay. Pursuant to SB 707 and resolution number 2026-R23 rules for conducting legislative meeting, remote participation via Zoom is available. Public comments for all agenda items will be accepted during the public comment period number seven, except for public hearing, which will be taken at the time each hearing is called. Please complete one yellow card only if you wish to make a comment on the non-public speaking items, and a separate blue public hearing speaker card for each public hearing item. The time allotted for each speaker will be determined based on the total number of requests to speak, including those submitted by in-person attendees, Zoom participants using the raise hand feature, and callers participating by phone by pressing star 9 to join the speaker queue. Request to speak will be accepted until the beginning of the applicable public comment period to determine the speaker time limit. And that time limit is for five or fewer speakers, five minutes each, six to 20 speakers, three minutes each, 21 to 40 speakers, two minutes each, 41 or more speakers, one minute each. Live interpretation is available through the Wordly app and closed captioning is available on Zoom. As a reminder, any person addressing the council who disrupts, disturbs, impedes, or otherwise renders infeasible the meeting's orderly conduct who, after a request by the presiding officer, refuses to cease such behavior may be removed from the City Council chambers or remote participation platform. For more information, procedures, and instructions, visit the City's website agenda page. Daph, do we have any telecommunication announcements? Okay. Agenda revision and additions?

No, Mayor, no changes to the agenda.

Okay, then let's proceed to presentation. Mark Keppel High School Dream Center.

Hi, thank you for having us. My name's Gracie Tugas. My name's Danielle Villanueva from Mark Keppel High School's Dream Center. First, I wanted to tell you a little bit about our purpose as a center. So the Dream Centers are meant to be a safe space for students to express and find their place at our school. We host many events, workshops, and presentations to raise awareness about any problems students may face, including sexual abuse and awareness, gender and sexuality, culture and ethnic diversity, and much more.

a little bit about us. The Dream Center is a safe space for all students. We provide diversity, equity, inclusion, and safety to students. We have volunteering and scholarship opportunities. We get to work with other clubs within our schools, within our school and other schools. We work alongside with our teachers and other organizations. We provide support and resources to students. We discuss topics like social issues, mental health issues, holidays, and more workshops and meetings. We have crafts and fun activities throughout the year, and we connect with the community and

Here are a few events, if you look up on the slide show on the side. These are a few activities and events we've hosted this past year. So first, really early on in the year, we had an NEA and CTA visit, which was really, really great for us as a center to learn more about the community and to talk with people who are in charge and to learn more about how we can support. Next slide, please. Thank you.

This was our grand opening in which some of you came and supported us. We opened up to the school. Some of our board members received certificates for their work.

And thank you, Mr. Sanchez, for that, for supporting us. This was a lunch activity we hosted for our school community. Anyone from our school was able to come take part in it to learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month. This was last year.

We hosted an activity at Inez for Dia de los Muertos. We brought a couple students, not only our board of the Dream Center, we also brought some other high school students from Marquepo. And we hosted some very beneficial activities for all grades in Inez to learn more about this holiday.

We also had a Halloween festival after school at Inez where we did several activities. We did face painting. We created little flowers. And we helped the students just celebrate the holiday in general. We hosted several anti-bullying trainings throughout the years to help create a better community at our school and ensure that everyone was able to learn how to take a more active approach in anti-bullying.

This was one of our bigger projects, the Parent Academy. We worked with additional aid. This was hosted over the weekend. We had many people come in and support us and resources for immigrant parents. As you can see, we hosted very many workshops and we provided many resources for them to take home.

We also had a protest poster workshop when there were ICE protests going on at our school and in our community to help provide a safe space for students to express themselves and provide them a safe space to have a talk with other students who are going through the same thing.

Within our school, we also hosted a Lunar New Year activity during lunch to help educate our students.

We also had a political advocacy week where we helped educate students at our school in different things that are going on throughout the world and throughout our communities so they could learn more and stay politically advised.

This was also one of probably the biggest event that we had this year, or last year. It was an art gallery for all students within the AUSD district. We later on opened it up to teachers as well. So our theme was power of our voices, kind of to tie back into the different activities that we had, discussing ice protests. So students, this was a great way for them to express themselves through their art and showcase it to the whole community. So this was really cool.

We also took part in the AUST community fair, again, stressing the importance of different cultures and celebrating them.

We also hosted some activities at the Inez Cultural Fair. We worked very closely with Inez last year and hope to this year as well. We had some traditional drinks that we shared. We also had activities to educate students and families.

Last year we also hosted a Denim Day lunch activity. Denim Day is a day of the year in April that promotes sexual violence awareness and prevention.

This is our first major activity that we will be hosting this school year. We are working with other clubs and teachers within our school. We are working towards destigmatizing getting clothing resources from our room. Within our school, the Dream Center has a room and This year, we have expanded to a second room right next door, which we are very excited about opening. And we have very many resources. After school, we have a food pantry. We also have clothing for students to get anytime during lunch throughout the whole school year. So we are trying to host this towards the beginning of the year so that students feel feel accepted and um and that they're able to come and get the clothing so we will be hosting this within palm court which is like the big area that students are during lunch and then later on if they need anything any of our resources they can go to our room

Thank you so much for having us. The reason we are here today is unfortunately our Dream Center's main source of financial support, the AYC, has experienced funding cuts recently. So our Dream Center has taken a hit in what we are projected to be able to do this coming year, including many of the community activities that we were able to do last year because of them. We wanted to reach out to see if this council in the future may be interested in providing any support, financial or otherwise, to help us continue our work for the community. Thank you so much for having us.

And thank you so much for sharing an incredible presentation and narrative of your work you do. Again, very, very proud that members of our community are so involved. Members, any comments you'd like to share?

Yeah, thank you for that great presentation. It looks like you guys have been doing amazing work for the community. I visited the Alhambra High School Dream Center, but haven't visited the Marcapal one yet. So I hope to come visit you guys sometime soon. But the clothing donation thrift mart looks really amazing as well.

Um, we will, for our new room, we will hope we're projecting to have our grand opening for that one early October.

Thank you, Grace and Danielle, for the great presentation. Kepa alumni, so I love how the presentation went. Just the events you guys did last year are incredible. We are not aware of that, so thank you for presenting and letting us know. And going forward, we would like to help process some of that stuff from a financial standpoint. let us kind of consider it's an individual thing, so we'll consider that. But also, I'd like you to kind of talk to our librarian who's sitting back there and our parks and rec director. A lot of the activities you do, they do to an extent. If you can brainstorm, they can provide some of the resources to help you get through it from a financial standpoint, as well as also help you direct the resources that you may need going forward. It could be a partnership, it could be something else that you can do on your own through the Marcapol Dream Center. So look forward to working with you guys and thank you to the advisors for your dedication and help and our students.

Thank you so much.

I'll just echo what has already been said as well. I appreciate all that the students, the advisors, and the school have been doing to support our immigrant community and immigrant students as well throughout Monterey Park and Alhambra. And I would echo the sentiment in terms of seeing how we can support, whether that's through helping to promote or co-host or partner on some of these events going forward and seeing what we can do. I'm all in favor of that and make sure we're in close communication around what we can do with partnership.

First, I want to thank you guys for coming tonight and really appreciate you sharing. I didn't realize how many events you guys had last year. Very amazing the work that you're doing and I want to specifically Thank you for amplifying the voices and concerns of the immigrant community within Keppel, but also within the Monterey Park community. I think that especially in this day and time in our communities, it's so important to do that. So I wanted to thank you for the work that you're doing. I know that you also host an ally lunch or want to encourage you to invite some of us to attend. I think I attended yours last year and was happy to help sponsor some of that lunch as well. But please invite, you heard from Council Member Yang, the other Council Members would love to attend as well. And then a lot of the events, just like Council Member Goh said, kind of align with a lot of the stuff we're already doing. But we also have a lot of city events that we host. We even have a farmer's market every Thursday. If you feel there's, like, you would like to host or have, like, a booth or anything like that at any of our city events, I think that's something we can also partner with you guys. We'd love to... make the community aware of the dream center that you guys have at your school but also give you an opportunity to also directly uh interface with our immigrant community um within our city events would be uh an amazing uh way to get your message across so thank you again and i know it's a school night and i see teachers here as well and they have to be uh a lot of amazing teachers here actually and uh mr brian kim as well from do a shout out from the ayc so thank you for being here tonight um and thank you for the presentation

I want to echo my sentiments with my colleagues and please share your information with our city staff and any announcements, okay? Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Okay. We will now proceed with public comment. This is the final opportunity to request to speak on agenda item other than public hearing items. If you have not yet submitted a yellow speaker card and wish to comment, please raise your hand, complete a speaker card, and provide it to the city clerk. For those participating remotely, please use the raise hand feature in Zoom. If you are participating by Zoom, press I'm sorry, if you're participating by phone, press star nine to join the speaker queue. We'll hear comments from in-person speakers first, followed by remote participants. City Clerk, how many in-person speakers do we have, and how many remote speakers do we have, and what is the speaker time limit?

There are seven in-person speakers and zero speakers participating remotely by phone or Zoom for a total of seven speakers. Each speaker is limited to three minutes each.

Okay. Very good. Then let us proceed. Okay. And that's three minutes. Okay. Let's see. First, Brian Erickson.

Hello, Council. The catalyst that brings me here tonight is an event with Mr. No, where he showed up on my driveway and started yelling me about an opponent sign in my beliefs in my property. Again, let me just describe it. He came up to me. He said, I don't want to talk to your neighbor. I saw their sign. I know your neighbor. I said, you might have missed my sign. starts coming after me over and over again. What is this about? What is this about? And I kept saying, I just want someone who's more liberal and more invested in the city council. Again and again, what's this about? Is this about ICE? Is this about ICE? We already have two liberals on the city council. What are you talking about? Look at this page of endorsements. And that's what I bring forth here. That's my first issue. But what I really want to speak about is the meeting time, the speaking time limit. I'm the fourth generation resident of this city. My family came here from Urbino, Italy. For all that time, public city members had five minutes of speaking time. When you started, Mr. Lowe, people could pool their time into 10 minutes. Now we've dropped it down if there's enough speakers to one. That's a 90% drop in our public speaking time. That is not acceptable. The history and the people who have sat in the seats that you are sitting in have made changes. There are news articles about the public meetings, the public comment parts of these meetings. meetings that make great changes, reversed city council decisions, fought against the Ku Klux Klan in Alhambra, fought against English diversions in the city who are trying to discriminate against Chinese people. The public speaking part of this meeting is sacred and it should not be changed. It has caused so much change. I started watching the April 15th video of the discussion Mr. Sanchez, you said during the meeting that the other meetings you were on was two minutes and that that was fine and nobody complained. Is that your standard? Do you want your constituents to have two minutes and that's fine because nobody complains? Mr. Wong, you said you were looking forward to it so we can get on to important city business. Would you like to tell the people here why this isn't important? Thank you.

Next LS Cito, please.

Okay. Hello, Council. I'm actually speaking on item number 9A, so I'm not sure if I'm in the right area, but let's go. Okay, so good evening. Okay, so I'm here to talk about number 9A, the San Gabriel Garvey Corridor Jumpstart Project. This council is being asked to make a determination based on material misrepresentation. in the consultant data. The Kimley Horn report uses suppressed COVID era baselines. Furthermore, the regional, the report ridership jump on line 70 is not new demand. It is simply Metro consolidating line 70, 770, 68, INTO LINE 70. SAN GABRIEL VALLEY COG ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF LINE 70 GOING BACK TO THE APRIL 18, 2019 COG GOVERNING BOARD MEETING WHERE REGIONAL TRANSIT FUNDS WERE QUIETLY REALLOCATED AT THE REQUEST OF LEADERSHIP REPRESENTING POMONA AND CLARAMONT INCLUDING SAN GABRIEL Board President and Claremont Vice Mayor Reece, who also serves as chair of the Foothill Gold Line Consortium Authority, to redirect resources to refining the light rail extension into their own communities, rerouting existing Line 70 riders onto a single 60% and longer snake route, degrades transit speed, direct contradicting claims of efficiency. Remember, material misrepresentation. Gain false light rail connection, Caltrans bypassing civil rights. San Gabriel Valley Cove repeatedly claims Line 70 connects to the Metro E line light rail. It does not. That's a lie. Line 70 turns right on Sierra Chavez Boulevard, reaching the train platform on 3rd Street and Atlantic, requires a .6-mile, 15-minute trek, forcing pedestrians across Interstate 60 freeway entrances, both west and east, under an unlit freeway underpass across the east exit ramps, and passing homeless encampments. Calling this a direct connection is material misrepresentation. I only have one minute left. So basically, this project bypasses mandatory Caltrans District 7 encroachment permit review. Particular Garfield, Atlantic, and Roseby Boulevard. OK. And furthermore, South Bay Cog and Kimley Horn claims that bus shelter signals signalization and contingent on approving the project. This is false leverage. My part is already dedicated for an active CIP project on the Garvey Avenue Improvement Project and SR710 mobility traffic signals, both funded by county and Caltrans. Additionally, threatening to withhold basic bus shelter unless we approve a flaw lane drop is direct violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Federal Transit Administration Circular 4702.1 . Okay, gotta keep going, okay? Let's see, regional coercion, safety, defects, and collision. By doing this, you're gonna direct traffic throughout our community and endanger our public. So that's it for now, and have fun at the dining table because you are the menu.

Thank you. Next, Donson Liu.

Good evening, Council. I'm getting over a cold. Yeah, I just want to speak on item 9A. I think I turned in the wrong card. Yeah, I'm for the project. It makes sense to me. I saw in the documents online that Rosemead and Sal Salmani already voted to approve this alternative. Makes sense to me that you can't really build a stool with two legs, so might as well. Every time I'm on Garvey, I see line 70 is always full. On the weekends, sometimes when I do try and get on, you have to wait for the next one because it's just slammed. During peak hour lane drops, I think that makes sense. You know, people are trying to get to and from work. It connects to El Monte Station. It's one of the biggest bus depots in the area. Yeah, it just makes sense to me. So, yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Next, Mayor, before we move on, maybe we can just get some clarity from the city attorney. If folks are making comment about item 9a during public comment, are they not going to be allowed to make comment when the item comes up?

Generally, no, unless the chair offers flexibility.

I just want to note, for those who are here and may be in public, I don't know if there are any others, Michelle Schinger, so maybe not. But if there are others here for 9A, you may want to just wait for the actual item in public comment to come up.

Oh, there's no comments. It's not hearing. Thank you. Next, Mr. Raymond Yu. Yes.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Raymond Yu. I have passed you the letter. But first, I have an announcement to make that my city of San Gabriel is hosting the 10th Annual Dumpling and Beer Festival will be taking place in my city of San Gabriel Mission District. The location will be on Mission Drive between Santa Anita Street of the San Gabriel City Hall and Broadway next to the San Gabriel Recreation Center on Broadway and Mission Drive in my city of San Gabriel. When the street is closed for the Dumpling Beer Festival, the festival is located inside and outside of my San Gabriel Mission Playhouse. Because we're having a beer and a dumpling in my city, which will be scheduled on Friday, October 2nd, 2026, from 6 o'clock p.m. to 10 o'clock p.m. It's exclusively on Mission Drive between Broadway and Santa Anita Street in my city of San Gabriel that we will all need to go there for fun and we will enjoy dumplings and also unlimited food and beverages in my city. That is on Friday, October 2nd, 2026. We'll see you at the San Gabriel's Beer and Dumpling Festival. We hold it on annual day, which is on first Friday in October 2026 or any year in October from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and we go there. On the other hand, at Panera Bread, we have a Panera Sip Club. When Panera Bread has dropped to eliminate and cancel the Unlimited Sip Club, Panera Bread has canceled the Unlimited Sip Club, so it changes to Panera Sip Club. Cost $15 a month and or $120 a year anyway by signing up into PaneraBread.com. Once you sign up Panera Bread, you get... three complimentary 30 sips limited to maximum 30 sips per month starting from month to month. Once you reach 30 out of 30 sips, max out 30 sips, then the sips becomes unavailable and suspended until next month where the sips will be reset to zero out of 30 once you reach 30 out of 30. This is why 4400 Marketplace Drive in the City of Monterey Park Marketplace, number 755. The land is still vacant and the building needs to be built up with the new Panera Bread Drive-Thru Marketplace between O'Neill and Buffalo Wild Wings Costco. Please help us. Thank you very much. Don't leave it vacant.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Next, Dave Jones.

I'll dispense with the niceties in the interest of time in the First Amendment. My name is Dave Jones and I've lived in Monterey Park over 50 years. This past Saturday, the 12th, D-Flock Monterey Park hosted a community teach-in about flock cameras. Now, I'm not part of the D-Flock group, but I was there, along with more than 70 other people, but not one person representing the city or the city council. It's a shame, you could have learned something. Professor Melody Dincher, JD from UCLA, spoke about the law and technology. Dr. Carlina Orozco, PhD from Cal State LA, spoke about effective policing. And even though our city didn't show up, Pasadena Vice Mayor Jess Rivas and South Pasadena Mayor Sheila Rossi did. Of course, Mayor Lowe, to his questionable credit, did issue a statement saying the allegations presented are uninformed and reflect a troubling pattern of deliberate or negligent information being spread through social media and other public channels. What's troubling Mayor Lowe is that you think so little of the Monterey Park residents that you couldn't be bothered to respond directly to an issue of considerable concern to many of us. Instead, the city clandestinely updated their facts to address the issues raised by an audit of 15 months of MPPD searches. An audit you dismissed as amateur. Well, I've spent my career working in the two most heavily regulated industries in the United States, and I know a thing or two about audits. I've participated in them, and I've responded to their findings. In response to 4,799 searches with no case numbers, the city stated Block only started requiring case numbers this past March. And yet searches from this past July have invalid or missing case numbers. And why didn't the city require case numbers in the first place? Talk about amateur. Even better, in response to 188 searches related to traffic enforcement, a prohibited use according to the city's ALPR policy, their facts states traffic doesn't mean traffic. It boggles the mind. If you tried that with an FRB auditor, and Councilman Goh is a banker, so he should know something about this, you'd have an MRA so fast your head would spin, which is exactly what my head did reading out of touch the city's responses. It's time for the city to engage in a meaningful two-way discussion regarding flock cameras. The city knows it cannot prevent Flock or outside agencies from abusing or misusing data from Monterey Park's cameras. Chief Weiss said so. Flock said so, too. Now the city's own search logs reveal they cannot be audited with any meaningful transparency or accountability. And the city's response, according to Mayor Lowe, they don't care. Well, I do care. I care about this city. I care about the Constitution. I care about the Bill of Rights. I care about the Fourth Amendment and the First Amendment, and so do a lot of other residents.

Thank you very much. We showed you that you were wrong to support data centers.

I'm claiming my First Amendment right to the freedom of speech. Thank you very much. And we'll show you that you're wrong about Flock. But we have to be willing to listen and just not dismiss us as amateur. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Next, Stephen Kung. Okay. Next, Damian Joa.

Evening Council and all visitors present. I'm here to discuss the Garvey Vehicular Traffic Corridor under consideration by Caltrans and Metro to take priority on certain times, basically peak mornings and evenings times, one lane each I believe. This would add further congestion for the nearby residential and adjacent streets for those who are taking that street during those times. The thing is, we have a local extensive public transportation that's already in place for example dollar ride services which is offers free curb to curb services it's mainly for senior and disabled riders also we also have the spare bus which encompasses a local fixed route and encompasses Garvey as well as Emerson East-West transportation services, extending from Atlantic to, I believe, up to Garvey or New Avenue. And then as well as the app-based Modern Park Transit Express, which is an app-based ride share, offer to residents and riders from offering door to door services. So for the, again, for Caltrans and Metro to override our local Garvey Avenue street in order to provide efficient and speed for their vehicles on that street, it would just add more congestion and inconveniences for our residences and riders. I'd like to also talk about a month ago about the Highland Elementary event that our city sponsored regarding flock system. The last speaker, who calls himself Mr. Flock, basically misstated facts about the events that occurred that evening. Basically, he stated that the public who were present, which was quite extensive, were denied transparency or opportunities to speak. But as a matter of fact, there were a few individuals who were offered opportunities to speak, who did speak one and twice when no one else raised their hands. Also, in terms of information that was by FLOG representatives to not be able to address those individuals. As a matter of fact, after the meeting, not only department heads, two representatives from FLOG were there as well, present, which not too many people came up.

Thank you very much. Okay, and I've been told there is someone on Zoom who wishes to also speak. Okay.

Mayor Lowe, the gentleman on Zoom has already left the meeting.

Oh, dear. I'm sorry.

Yeah, this is for Item 9A. He wanted to express his interest in approving the item.

Okay. Did that person leave a name, at least for record?

Yes. I apologize if I don't say this name correct. Alberetz Molatomi?

Okay. Okay.

I can provide you.

Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you.

You're very welcome.

And I think that concludes public comment. Okay. Thank you all who have stood up to speak. Moving on. Staff communications, um, a police department.

Hello, good evening. It's a pleasure to see you all today, and thank you for having me and for the opportunity for me to present to you again this year for the Pink Patch Project. And thank you all who are here present. So the Pink Patch Project, it's a public awareness campaign to fight breast cancer. It raises support for breast cancer research, and it unites law enforcement and the community for one cause. The mission for the Pink Patch Project is to inspire action, provide hope, and strive for a future without breast cancer.

Next slide.

So the roots of the Pink Patch Project. It started in 2013 with the Seal Beach Police Department. So the way that they actually advocated for breast cancer is that they all wore pink uniform shirts. In 2015, Irwindale Police Department initiated with expanding the idea by selling patches which were pink in color, like the ones that I'm currently wearing, and they expanded by selling about $20,000 worth of patches that would be able to donate to City of Hope. In 2016, the Police Chief Anthony Miranda presented the project to the Alley County Chiefs Association and 25 agencies joined. Today speaking, we have hundreds of agencies. It's actually worldwide. Now we have fire, EMS, and federal departments that are actually included. The impact, it's collectively, the project has raised over $1 million for breast cancer research and education. Next slide, please. So how do the agents participate? Every agency has their own form of participation. That could be through fundraising, through merchandise. That could be through an event, specifically for Monterey Park. Actually, we have a car show, which some of you have attended last year. It's actually the, this is going to be the third annual car show that we're having. Last year we had a great turnout. We had about 65 classic cars and they included also even sports cars and high end cars, luxury cars. We have, we had multiple law enforcement agencies that joined us and they sell their own merchandise. So that's actually kind of nice to see the type of merchandise that they sell along with Uniting the community, which it's actually very nice to see how the community will come along and support the Monterey Park Police Department. Some to mention, it would be like the Courtyard Marriott. We had Raising Canes. We had Starbucks that they actually donated goodies for us to be able to do in baskets. We had like the Golden Liquor, which are like small businesses, and they were able to donate to us and make the car show a success. Every year the Pink Patch Project, they actually designate where all the chiefs and the officer that's assigned for the Pink Patch Project to take a photo and to be able to publicize the Pink Patch Project. It's become so great and so large where, as mentioned earlier, this is worldwide now. And before it was only law enforcement, but now fire, EMS, they now join us as well. These efforts help build community connection and show Monterey Park Police advocacy for breast cancer awareness. Next slide. Thank you. So who can I contact regarding the pink patch project? So our direct contact with City of Hope, it would be Raquel Sanchez. Her contact number is on there along with her email. And then for the pink patch project itself, which is held by El Segundo, Amy McDaniel, along with the email, is actually located if any questions or concerns anyone may have. And next slide, please. And on here, we would have the flyer for the car show that we'll be holding this year, which would be October 18th, which is a Sunday, and it's from 9 to 2 p.m. As mentioned, it's classic cars, it's sports cars, and high-end cars. For the cars, there's a charge of $25, and for motorcycles, it'll be $20. All pro seats go to City of Hope at the end of the year. The photo that's located on the right side, it would be for the merchandise that we're actually selling for this year. So for this year, we're actually having T-shirts. It's an awesome T-shirt. It has a representation of all the major landmarks in Monterey Park. So it's actually very sweet to actually have that and be able to not only know that you're purchasing a shirt, but you're purchasing it for a good cause. And we also have tote bags. We have to think about the reusable bags and how we're able to also contribute. So tote bags are also for sale. And we also have stickers, a lot of stickers going on. So for Monterey Park, that's going to be the merchandise that we're going to be selling this year. We've been having a lot of success and we'll be having it at the car show. And there was... I didn't mention on one of the slides earlier. So for last year, we raised, there is a photo on the next slide, please. There's gonna be a photo with City of Hope. And last year we were able to donate 8,691 with 13 cents. It's very awesome to know that Monterey Park as a whole, with the city, with the community, with the police department, we were able to come together collectively and be able to donate to the City of Hope because at least we're able to show those and who attended the event as well that we're actually here for whoever has gone through cancer and their family members and it was very nice. The vehicle that was chosen last year, which was at the entrance, it was a very sweet story. His mother had gone through breast cancer, so it was very significant for him to actually be there in support of his mother. So those are one of the many testimonies that we have at the Quar Show, and one of the many testimonies that are actually given to me personally when I'm doing fundraising. Thank you so much for having me tonight.

Thank you very much. Council members?

This is a great project year after year and you can definitely count me one for one of those t-shirts.

I love the car shows and I love the event and how you guys set it up and I think I'm most impressed by the amount of money that's donated by our community supporting this project and then for you guys in turn giving it to the City of Hope. That shows our passion in supporting cancer research and education and really helping our community. So thank you so much for all that you guys do.

Thank you. I'll just say ditto and whatever we can do to help promote this on our channels. Obviously, let's do that.

That would be great. Thank you.

Yeah, you can definitely count me in for two t-shirts because I got to take one home to the wife as well. But I really want to extend my gratitude for all the work that you do to promote this project, but also to be able to financially support City of Hope and their efforts to try to help people who are suffering through cancer and cancer treatment. So really appreciate all the effort that you guys do on a yearly. I enjoy going to the car show, take my daughters every year, and doing the voting as well. So thank you so much for everything that you guys do. And please count us in.

Thank you.

Absolutely. I always enjoy supporting this event either by T-shirt or a pink patch, and so please put me down for both. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, moving on to Item 9A Under Old Business, San Gabriel Valley Ford Business Bus Rapid Transit Project Update and Preferred Project Scope.

Mayor, I believe I have to recuse myself because of the proximity of my property.

Okay, thank you for acknowledging. Yes? Same here, but if I can ask the city attorney's office to maybe do another formal FVPC advice request on this particular project. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, but if it comes forward, we'd love to see because this project will go along Atlantic. John Potter, And Garvey. John Potter, I know we're relying on previous FPC guidance on the Garvey redesign project that was specifically only on Garvey and we've received some some guidance from the state FPC around that and some of our participation, given our personal property. being within 500 feet of Garvey. But since this SUV forward would be even more expansive than the Garvey project, maybe we can look into that and see if this is something we can potentially participate in, since it impacts an even larger part of the city. But knowing that we don't have that advice tonight, I'll exit the room as well. But maybe we can look into that.

OK. Anyone else?

Okay. I think I'm within the 500 to 1,000 feet. But if I exit, then you don't have a quorum. So I'd like to get clarification from the city's attorney's office to either allow me to sit or replace me with someone else. I'm open to both.

Thank you, council members. So you're beyond the 500, as you said. You're between 500 and 1,000. And we explored the circumstances and found that there was no presumed conflict for you. So you are allowed to participate this evening. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Okay. Well, then let's begin. Just for clarification, sorry. So since there's now three council members that will be able to vote on this item, how many votes do we need for this to either pass, fail, or can you just give us an update on that?

So under the rules that apply to council, to quorum, and parliamentary procedure, since two are recused due to conflicts of interest, they don't count towards the quorum. So we have a quorum of three, and the majority of that quorum here, two, would be enough to take action. Oh, I see.

Thank you. Thank you for that clarification. Thank you, Mayor Pro Temp, for asking. Okay, let's do staff presentation.

All right. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Temp. and city council member, Sean Ingo, public works director. Tonight, you have an item before you for the San Gabriel Valley Bus Rapid Transit Project. Note that recommendation two only identifies a side running configuration. However, a curb running configuration is part of the discussion. As we get further into the presentation from staff, the COG, and Kim Lee Horm teams, this will make more sense. Ultimately, the configuration is the city council's decision. I will try not to duplicate what the COG and the Kimley Horn team will be presenting, but I want to provide a few key points that will also tie into the city's mobility hub. The San Gabriel Valley Forward BRT project is a regional transit initiative along Garvey Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard involving the cities of Monterey Park, Rosemead, South El Monte, Metro, and the San Gabriel Valley COG. The proposed jumpstart improvements recommend peak hour bus lanes from 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m., transit signal priority, and upgrades to bus shelters and other amenities. The project goals improve bus travel times, reliability, regional connectivity, and access to multiple transportation items. Thus far, the City of Omani has approved the project at their August 26th meeting. South Omani approved the project at their September 1st, 2026 meeting, and Rosemead approved this portion of their project on September 8th at the 2026 meeting by a 3-2 vote. Next slide, please. So the Mobility Hub. Staff has been meeting regularly with Metro since April of this year to finalize the proposed Mobility Hub. As part of these meetings, we have provided them with a curbside management plan, a parking analysis at their request. Although we have seen progress, additional support from Council may be beneficial at this time. Ultimately, the project provides improved transit connections for buses, micro transit, shuttles, bicycles, and more. It expands transportation choices for residents and visitors to reach many destinations such as ELAC, Cal State LA, surrounding cities, and more. It improves first and last mile access to connect neighborhoods and businesses as well. supports future mobility as the proposed location can accommodate evolving transportation services and technologies such as microtransit, which we recently launched last year. Next slide, please. Finally, as you're aware, the proposed location is the Lincoln Avenue and Garvey Avenue parking lot, which is within the San Gabriel Valley forward path of travel, providing ideal connectivity. With that, I can take any questions or we can pass it over to Ricky Choi and his COG team.

Why don't we pass it on to Mr. Choi?

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Ricky Choi, Director of Government Relations with the Sangre Valley Council of Governments. Thank you for having us here tonight as you consider the proposed Sangre Valley Forward Jumpstart Demonstration Project, for us better known as SGV Forward for short. Before we turn to the presentation, I know Sean had provided a little bit of background, but I'd like to also provide some context on how we got to where we are today. This project grew out of the Samuel Valley Transit Feasibility Study, which the COG undertook in partnership with Metro following the Metro Board's 2020 decision to withdraw the SR 60 alternative from the Eastside Transit Corridor Phase 2 project. As you know, the project is now advancing and will extend the Metro E line from its current terminus at Atlantic Station through Montebello, Commerce on its way towards ultimately with the Whittier, as opposed to the SR 60 corridor that would have ended in South Omani. Following that 2020 decision, the Metro Board took action spearheaded by Supervisors Hilda Solis and former Director John Fasana to honor the Metro's, the Measure R and Measure M commitment to the Singapore Valley. Setting aside funding for a new transit project here in the region, recognizing the significant mobility needs of communities that have been anticipated to benefit from the SR 60 alignment. The COG subsequently partnered with Metro on the feasibility study, and we looked at both short term and long term improvements to enhance mobility and public transportation across the Singapore Valley. with particular attention to the underserved communities, transit-dependent residents, as well as communities specifically along the SR-60 corridor that lack frequent high-quality transit service. And so SGB IV is one of the near-term opportunities that emerged from that work. The Jump Start projects are intended to provide targeted improvements that can make transit safer, more reliable, and easier to access, and really build an integrated transit network for the entire region. With the 2028 Olympics approaching, there's also a timely opportunity to also demonstrate what coordinated, locally supported transit improvements can look like, and really transform how we move around and get around the Singapore Valley. The project is designed around existing transit service with the intent of making the service that is already operating along these corridors more efficient and reliable. For the city of Monterey Park, Garvey Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard are not just transportation corridors, they're major community and commercial corridors. They connect residents to businesses, schools, services, and destinations within Monterey Park, while also providing connections to neighboring cities and the broader regional transportation network. And these connections are especially important for students at ELAC, many of whom rely on public transportation to get to campus. Better transit connections along Atlantic Boulevard and Garvey can help make it easier for students to travel between home, school, work, and other destinations without having to rely on a car. The same is true for residents traveling to jobs, healthcare, shopping, recreation opportunities, and other essential services. This is about creating a transit network that better connects people to opportunity. Proposed improvements are also intended to strengthen connections across city boundaries. Transit riders don't necessarily think about where one city ends and another begins. They simply need to be able to get from where they need to go safely, reliably, and efficiently. And that is why Monty Park has such an important role to play in the broader SUV forward network. With the proposed improvements being considered tonight, we really have an opportunity to invest in infrastructure in the St. that has the potential to enhance mobility and provide more dependable, accessible transit options for the region. We'd like to take this opportunity to really thank Mayor Lowe and Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez for representing Morning Park throughout the subcommittee process. And also, we'd like to share and express our gratefulness to city manager, the public works director, and the city engineer for their time, expertise, and willingness to work with the COG and the neighboring cities on this project. So with that, I'll turn it over to Maya from our team to walk you through the proposed improvements. So thank you.

Well, good evening, honorable mayor, mayor pro tem, and city council member. I am Maya Boucher. I'm with Kim Lee Horn. And I'll be providing a presentation and then available for questions after. Make sure I can get this going.

Maya, I'm happy to advance your slides if you'd like.

OK, perfect. I think I may have just taken it out of the queue. All right, perfect. So Ricky did a great job of providing background on how we got here today. But I wanted to provide a little bit more context on the transit feasibility study. So that process started back in 2021. And we did quite a bit of work on the technical study side. We did quite a bit of outreach. We developed a project development team meetings in coordination with the cities. And we ultimately developed a final feasibility study, which was adopted in March of 2024. And from that plan, we identified three key plans. So the first was the midterm plan slated for 2035, and that is linked to the funding that Ricky mentioned. And that kind of identified high quality transit improvements for the San Gabriel Valley for that year. We also came up with a long term plan for 2050, and that long term plan identified high quality transit that was sort of a wish list of improvements, so fiscally unconstrained. The last output were the jumpstart projects, and this was an idea of advancing certain improvements before 2035, thinking about the region as they prepare for the 2028 Paralympics and Olympics. So that's where we've been for the last year or so, really focused on the jumpstart projects. These improvements that could be implemented in a shorter term time span, and thinking about different ways that we could advance these improvements. So throughout the summer, we facilitated three subcommittee meetings to promote collaboration across the four cities. So next slide. We talked about those four cities, but specifically in Monterey Park, we're focused on two key segments. The first is on Atlantic Boulevard between First and Garvey, and the second is on Garvey Avenue between Atlantic to New Avenue. Next slide. So when looking at the jumpstart projects, they consist of three key components. The first is dedicated peak hour bus lanes, and this would consist of signing and striping improvements, all within the existing street width. Transit signal priority, which would consist of minor traffic signal upgrades, and this would allow for TSP to be implemented through a cloud-based technology. Transit shelter upgrades would focus on prefabricated shelters and amenities, and all these improvements would be within the existing right-of-way. These improvements focus on improving transit speed, reliability, and the rider experience. So getting into typical cross sections for Atlantic, we also have some concept plans at the end that'll show it in plan view. But wanted to provide some typical cross sections to talk about kind of how these bus lanes in the peak hour would be laid out on each corridor. So starting with Atlantic Boulevard, between First and Brightwood, there would be a curb running configuration. So this would run along the curb and it would be striped as a bike bus lane. This would preserve two travel lanes in each direction. And I should mention these are typical cross sections. So there could be some, you know, there's some slight differences on the actual plan, but these are the typical cross sections, what you see on the corridor. And then as you transition to Brightwood Street North to Garvey, it would transition to a side running configuration. So in this case, it would preserve parking and then there would be one traveling in each direction and then the bus bike lane that would operate once again during the peak hours. Now this configuration specifically is recommended because in this portion of the corridor, the curb to curb width Narrows and so it's not feasible to do a curb running configuration in this part of the corridor as we move up to Garvey We then continue that side running configuration, and that would once again preserve parking. Now there's a couple different reasons that the side running configuration is recommended for Garvey Avenue. The first is preservation of parking for the small business community. The city also has the Garvey Avenue improvements project, and as part of that project, the current plans propose extension of the sidewalks, curb extensions. So this proposed configuration would be compatible with those improvements under the city project. So in addition to peak hour bus lanes, transit signal priority would also help benefit on-time bus service and reliability. It also provides increased vehicle throughput on the bus corridors as it extends the green or shortens the red for the bus vehicles, but it also allows for the same for personal vehicles. As mentioned earlier, we're also looking at bus stop amenities. So these would improve the rider experience. We would look at different key locations where bus stops could be upgraded. We know that there's different types of bus amenities on each corridor. Some cases you have a full shelter. Sometimes you have just a flag post or a bench. So looking at different areas where there's the greatest need and the highest ridership and looking at different amenities such as safety lighting, real-time arrival displays, shade, cover from the sun and when it does rain. And then also looking at those higher demand areas where a canopy extension could be accommodated to provide additional shade and cover. So getting specifically into why these two corridors. So line 70 runs along these two corridors. There's a highly used bus line within the system with 15,000 boardings per day. Service frequency is quite frequent at approximately seven and a half minutes throughout the entire day on weekdays. Dedicated bus lanes can improve bus speed and reliability by reducing travel times by 10 to 25%. And that paired with transit signal priority can improve travel speed and reliability by up to 10%. now it should be noted there are other quarter services that would benefit from these improvements so it's not just line 70 but the reason we focus on line 70 is it is the highest ridership route that runs along these two corridors buses are also very efficient in terms of the amount of people they can move and the amount of space that they occupy compared to vehicles they're also a more sustainable form of transportation So I mentioned the ridership, but I did want to provide a little context about what that ridership looks like in Monterey Park. So when we look at the ridership of line 70, we can see that the ridership is pretty consistent with the percent of the mileage of the route. So that means the percentage of the route within Monterey Park is consistent with the riders that are being generated out of Monterey Park. So METRA does ridership surveys, and this survey identified some key trends that I want to point out based on the riders of line 70. So 55% traveled for work or school, 18% traveled for errands, 90% walked, biked, or rolled to the bus stop, and 87% didn't have access to a car. I think what's really important here is that it shows that people are using this line to get to work, employment opportunities, educational opportunities, and that many of them don't have another means to get around. So they are highly reliant on this service. Some field observations in the middle of the day. I think some things to point out. You see pretty consistent riders waiting for the bus. You also see a lot of different age demographics, so young children, seniors, adults, people carrying groceries, demonstrating that they're using the service for daily errands. We also saw some situations where buses were stacked up upon one another. So there was pretty frequent service, but there are some indicators that there might be some schedule reliability that could be enhanced through the project. Ricky mentioned schools. We did look at schools in the area and we specifically identified this into two categories. So segments one through four, which were the cities that were part of the subcommittee. And then we also looked at this later year of the midterm BRT for 2035 and the amount of schools in the area and students that could be served by these transit improvements. So getting into the operations of the bus lane and providing a little bit more context. So as a reminder, these are proposed peak hour bus lanes. This came out of the subcommittee in a request from the various cities. So we'd be looking at these buses operating specifically between 7 to 9 and 4 to 7 PM, which aligns with the peak hours on the corridor. And these would be striped specifically as bus bike only lanes. This is the standard for metro, and this provides a designated space for cyclists instead of them having to use the general purpose lane. So really the intent of a bus bike lane is to provide an area where the bikes can go, and then they're not required to stay out of that lane. The other thing that's important to note is that in that lane would be a bus driver, right? A professionally trained driver. So they are much better suited to go around a bike compared to an everyday driver. So those are the benefits that come out of striping it that way rather than pushing those cyclists into that other general traveling. This is consistent with Metro standards and how they lay out their bus bike lanes throughout LA County. Another thing, and we can stay on this slide, but I just want to point out, too, that's important from a traffic operations perspective is right turns are allowed to use this lane. So what that does is it provides a de facto right turn pocket for vehicles making right turns on both corridors. So the city has a lot of exciting projects underway. They've made a lot of efforts in enhancing multimodal travel throughout the city and just wanted to acknowledge that. So in 2022, the city adopted a complete streets policy. Transit is highlighted as a key component to that policy. It also acknowledges that it's not a one size fits all approach. So every corridor has different characteristics. And in this case, Atlantic and Garvey are definitely the transit corridors for the city. The city's currently working on a Vision Zero action plan, which is focused on improving safety. It includes an active transportation plan, complete streets plan, safe routes to school plan, and looks at different bike and pedestrian connections to Atlantic and Garvey. In addition to that, along Garvey Avenue, the city has the Garvey Avenue Improvements Project. And as part of this project, we actually coordinated efforts with that team throughout the outreach process and also considering whether their design could be compatible with our design, as mentioned earlier. So just getting into some example concept plans, we did these at the request during our subcommittee discussion. So we identified some key transition points within each respective city, and then we laid that out in the design. Now a couple things to point out here, you can see that the striping does have red pavement markers, but those are strategically applied. So this would be more likely, the typical cross-section shows kind of a consistent red for illustrative purposes, but in this case it would be sort of a strategically applied red pavement marker. And this is what Metro has been using now and transitioning to Because they see that compliance of bus lanes is a lot more effective when there's those red pavement markers. You can see here the signage I mentioned earlier which indicates the bus bike only lane and then also indicates the operating hours and that right turns are permitted in the lane. Now for this next area, so this is where we transition to Atlantic and Garvey. Now at this location there is a dual left, so in this case the bus would actually transition at the intersection to mixed flow. It would continue through that intersection and then once it got back onto Garvey approaching Chandler, it could then regain as a peak hour bus lane. And then getting into Garvey Avenue and Monterey Park, at this point fairly consistent design and then would move into the city of Rosemead. And once again, the side running configuration has been laid out with consistency with that Garvey Avenue improvements project. Community outreach has been a key part of the process. We have had both in-person standalone meetings. We have attended pop-up community events. We've provided multilingual outreach. We've also coordinated with the city's Garvey Avenue Improvements Project. We're really grateful that the city made the recommendation to coordinate efforts and make sure that it was kind of a streamlined approach. And so our alternative was included as part of those community meetings. So in terms of next steps, we're here today to get direction from city council on what the proposed project would be, how to define the project, and this would allow us to move into environmental clearance. Now this is a very accelerated effort. I mentioned earlier, in order to get these improvements in place before 2028, we have quite a bit of work ahead of us. And so this would consist of environmental clearance beginning later this year, 2026, and that would run concurrently with design. Then from their construction would be slated to break ground in mid to late 2027 with the project operational by spring of 2028. So with that, I will open it up to questions and thank you again for your time.

Thank you so much numbers. Thank you Maya for that presentation. Um, I will, I have a couple of questions. I don't know if they are questions for Maya or maybe Sean can. You guys can jump in depending on my question. So this thing's been going on for years. Really, 2021 was when it kind of took the next level jump. My first question is cost. The entire project cost going from First Street, I'm just going to say Montebello side, all the way through Monte Park, Rosemead, South Omani, and Omani. What's the total cost to this?

It's a great question. So we actually don't have a total cost for that part of the project yet. Part of the costing exercise is to actually get direction from the cities. So we're working on developing that cost right now. But again, it is based on what direction we get from the cities because we don't know exactly the elements that the cities want to advance. The dedicated funding for 2035 is in the amount of 635 million, and that is a build out from basically end to end of the San Gabriel Valley. And that consists of a much more robust full BRT project where we're looking at service enhancements. This is really that first phase of can we advance some of those improvements in the shorter term. So we wouldn't be looking at a budget of anywhere close to 635. It would be a much smaller amount, but it would lay the groundwork for that future project in 2035.

And that amount would be paid forth by Metro?

Yeah, so that's out of the tax measure. And so basically that is allocated to the San Gabriel Valley. So it's specifically for transportation improvements.

Okay. Next question I have is, when I kind of looked at the design, I'm going to focus just on the Mario Park side, which is on Atlantic, and then on Garvey. I will get to the rest of the other cities later on. So from my viewpoint on this, when we say bus lane, that's allowable by, of course, the bus, and vehicles only if you're making a right turn, right? When you're entering into it, because you have to enter it to make a right turn. Does it include e-bikes and bikes right now?

So for the actual lane, you're saying with the proposed project? Yeah. Yeah, so it would allow bikes. In terms of e-bikes, I think everyone knows this is a pretty big topic right now. There's some different regulations in place based on speed. I'll just say that. So I think that the e-bike conversation, much like a vehicle, if an e-bike was speeding and defined by that speeding, that's how kind of enforcement works of e-bikes. But yes, both bikes and e-bikes could use that lane.

what I'm just thinking and questioning here a question out loud here would high occupancy vehicles carpool vehicles would they be allowed to use this lane during again this is again this is about peak hour 79 am and 47 pm would they be allowed to use this as proposed

It's a great question. So we got the same question in the Rosemead City Council meeting, and Rosemead City Council made a direction to city staff to define what HOV means. I'll say this. HOV came up with specifically Rosemead Go, so looking at microtransit. And I think what we have to consider is when we're talking about HOV, we would need to consider what are marked vehicles and how to enforce the lane. So I'll say that. It hasn't been defined, but that did come up in the Rosemead City Council meeting.

Okay.

Next question is when you say the traffic hours, commute hours, 7 to 9 a.m. So the assumption is at 7 to 9 a.m., it's basically from the west coming in, actually from the west coming in east. So basically roast meat coming through Garvey and then Atlantic would be on one lane from Garvey going toward Montebello. So that's 7 to 9 a.m. And then the evening shift would be 4 to 7 p.m. from the other way, which is the eastern side of Atlantic and then the south side of Garvey.

So the actual bus lanes are proposed right now as both directions during those hours. So they're laid out for both directions, yes.

Okay. And why is it three hours in the afternoon versus two in the morning?

So what we did is we looked at the peak hours on the corridor and looked at kind of where that peak point is in terms of traffic volumes, and that helped determine what those hours, those operating hours are. The operating hours are pretty consistent also with the rest of Metro's network. So what we found in our findings from the peak operating hours is it was consistent with what Metro has put in place in other parts of Los Angeles County.

Okay. So my view on this is that I know, because I drive it all the time, I work in downtown, I drive back, In the mornings is one directional traffic and in the afternoon is one directional traffic. So I understand why the proposal was for both. If I had a way to look at this or if I asked for you guys to kind of consider maybe just making it one directional traffic in terms of traffic in the morning versus traffic in the afternoon because for example driving here to the council meeting it was 6 p.m from going eastward on garvey you can see traffic but going westward there's really not many cars so i don't think you need that you need to close the lane down per se okay so that's that's one thought um parking so let's go back to okay it says it there so on this Based on this, so from First Street to Brightwood, which is basically Atlantic Square, the retail area, there's really not much parking there anyways because they have their own parking structure. You can't park on the street. But from Brightwood all the way until Garvey, you're keeping the parking on the streets. And then that's the transitional lane during rush hours, correct?

Correct. Yeah. And again, these are typical cross sections. The concept plans haven't been laid out end to end of each corridor. But I know on Atlantic near first, there are a few parking spaces. And so based on guidance from the city, if we wanted to start the lane a little bit further north, that's an option. But These are the typical cross-sections based on what is out there today and what would be feasible from an engineering perspective. Right.

And I'm actually not as worried about parking from that stretch of Atlantic. I think the stretch that worries me is on Garvey, if you can proceed to Garvey, because that's where our, you can call it downtown Martin Park, and that's where all our businesses are. There's a lot of businesses that rely on street parking in addition to the parking lots behind the buildings. Is that gone to garbage? OK. So we retain the parking. And then we have one directional bus lane and then traffic. Do you know what the average time saved is if I were just, on a typical day, what I have now, going from point eight, going from, I'll give a specific reason, and you may not have this, but if I was driving from, call it Rosemead New Avenue, and I got to the end of First Street, today's traffic flow, if you had converted to this method, how much more in traffic would it take for me as a driver? Like how much time am I spending more on the road?

Yeah. So we did prepare a traffic study. And generally, it's little less than a minute a mile in terms of change. And we did look at the level of service. So usually when you're doing a traffic study, you have standards of level of service at the intersection level. We studied it. The intersections were operating at an acceptable level of service, which is set at the standard of D. The one intersection where we saw there was some congestion was at Garvey and Garfield. But by modifying the signal timing, it was able to be at an acceptable level of service.

and the stretch from garvey new avenue and i'm just again i'm focusing in my park side because that's my premise right now so from new avenue to atlantic to first street is about a four mile stretch three mile stretch what's that four miles yeah four miles approximately four miles so you're telling me based on again this is based on studies it would take the average driver four minutes more to make that commute if we went to this process.

Yeah, so some of the numbers are less, but I'm trying to be a little bit more conservative. That's fine. I think a minute a mile is fair to say.

I'm just trying to get the bearing on this. On the flip side of this, we're doing this because we are considering the flexibility in multimodal transit, and we're encouraging public transit, we're encouraging, well, there's gonna be more housing along Garvey, all over Garvey, not just our city, but everywhere else, and commute into downtown, into work, into the Montebello stations. How much time would I save if I took the bus from, for example, if I got on at New Avenue on Rosemead and I had to do a transfer to Atlantic back to First Street to the E line?

So if we go back to that slide, there's info on the line 70. So there's several different factors, but generally it's between 10 to 25% for the bus lanes and then up to an additional 10% for the transit signal priority.

So 10 to 20, so how many minutes? Well, how many, what's the full minute, right?

Yeah, there's some calculating I have to do on the fly here. I think the thing, though, too, that's important to note about bus lanes, and I know that this is kind of a different concept from a driver, you think specifically just based on time.

Yeah.

But the reliability is really important. And the reason for that is as a driver, you don't have to factor in all the contingencies that a transit rider has to factor in. And so the benefit of bus lanes is not necessarily just the travel time savings, but it's that reliability. And that's been demonstrated through Metro's bus lane network, that people are able to get to where they need to go. And especially when you're trying to transfer, right? If you miss that transfer window, that can make a pretty substantial dent in your day. Whereas a driver, you don't, you know, yes, understood, you know, congestion is always going to be a consideration. I think we can all agree we don't like it, but you're kind of, you're a door-to-door, right? It's a door-to-door type of drive, and so it's a lot more reliable for you.

Well, I'm trying, and again, I appreciate that, because what I'm trying to assess is not so much a specific time, because I think, I don't know if there is a perfect system here. I don't. But I know what you guys are trying to do, and you guys are trying to create an intermediate system where, yes, it's going to cost the drivers a little bit more time. However, it's going to save the bus riders also some considerable time. And those minutes may be the same, may not be the same. Again, that remains to be seen. But the key is you guys are trying something, because what we have now doesn't work all the time. I think that's what you guys are trying to do. And then if you kind of get to the 2035 timeline, which is what we want to do as a community, have a multimodal transit system that goes from one point all the way to the substation in Armani. I think that's what you guys are trying to do. I just kind of have to go through this and process this. Oh, the signal priority. Help me explain that. Do we have that now?

As far as I know, the city does not have it. So the signal priority is basically a technology that, again, allows for an extension of the green or a shortening of the red time. And that is set through a set of business rules, which can be determined by usually each local jurisdiction. So you can as a city can provide that input to Metro about how and when the transit signal priority is initiated. But what it does is it allows basically the green light. And when you pair that with a bus lane, it allows them to get that green light and not to sit in traffic for as long. Of course, it still has to comply with signal timing requirements and all that. That's where those business rules come into play.

Okay. And this signal priority, I'm going to assume that that's something that's highly requested by the other cities who approve from Rosemead, Armani, and South Armani.

Yeah, so there's kind of two pieces to this. There's transit signal priority, and then there's also signal synchronization. And the two can exist together, but they serve slightly different purposes. The signal synchronization is to essentially get your signal timing to be as efficient as possible. And based on what we saw in the traffic study, there are improvements that could be made. The city has a project that kind of overlaps with this already. on Garvey. And so with that, there's signal timing improvements that could be made. And that would allow for, essentially, consideration of those traffic volumes. If you were to make a modification to the corridor, specifically during certain times of the day, how do you adjust that signal timing to accommodate that new configuration?

OK. So Sean, this is a question for Sean. If I wanted both those in our city, Is there an external cost to it?

There is an external cost as part of our adaptive project that we've been working on as part of our 710 projects. So this project is in the works. This is an opportunity to partner with the cog and potentially share some of those costs to have these improvements put in. So, timing wise, we'll have to see how it overlaps. But ultimately, that is what the city is looking at along Atlantic Garfield and Garvey.

Yeah, I mean, it sounds like we're trying to do that on our own, which do we have a number on the cost? We don't currently, we're still working through those numbers. Okay, but if we work jointly, With Metro, then that cost potentially will be picked up by Metro. Could be shared, yeah. Could be shared, okay.

Yeah, so I think the key thing is that the request of Metro, those requests can go in based on direction from city council. The key element of this project would be the transit signal priority, which I understand is not included as part of the cost, and that would be requested of Metro under this project. But again, if the city were to make requests related to signal timing, that could be put in the request to Metro. And then again, the next step here is really just to get guidance from city council to understand what the requests of the city are in terms of what the project looks like. And then that would go before Metro board for a funding request for the project.

Okay. Well, I'm going to pass on to the rest of my council members while I continue to kind of look through my notes here. Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you Mayor. Thank you so much for that presentation and thank you to Ricky Choi as well for the providing the context earlier and just for everyone who's here from Metro and Cog appreciate all of the information that you guys are presented today, but also a lot of the time that you made yourself available for these committee meetings. I know that several people from the community showed up as well. I wanted to also acknowledge Councilmember Stephen Lai from Rosemead. And these have already been approved by Rosemead, South Omani, and Omani, right? So we're the last remaining city. Is that correct? So, um, I was part of the committee that participated in this, um, and I just want to share that, um, since I started participating in those committee meetings, I wanted to make sure that I properly understood how this corridor is impacted. So I, I tried. as often as I could to ride line 70. And if you haven't had a chance to ride line 70 through Cesar Chavez, Atlantic, all the way to Omani. And so when I go to work, sometimes I will take line 70 and then transfer to the 260 slash 261 ahead of Alhambra. When I have service council, metro service council meetings, it takes me straight to the El Monte station. And when we had our committee meetings, I a couple times took the metro as well. So my experience with writing line 70 is that it is heavily used and it is always full, okay? And so to me, based on what I saw is I saw a lot of young people. I saw a lot of families. I saw a lot of elderly people. uh, doing shopping, uh, going to supermarkets. I could see it in their bags, in their baskets, uh, and their carts that they carried. Uh, it is a heavily used line. Um, and the 15,000, uh, people that write daily is proof of, of that. I think that if we can go back to the, to the numbers, the stat numbers, I think that you were sharing earlier. Let me see.

About the survey? Yeah. Okay.

There we go. I think what stands out to me is that people within our city and within this corridor, the other cities as well, use more than 50%, if I see that correctly, are probably using this as their primary mode of transportation because this is all they've got. And so I know that there are some people that potentially are not here tonight that could speak to this item and say how they use this line, but probably aren't here tonight because they're on the bus. They're probably at home. And for them, and I want to be a voice for them, I want to make sure that I share that for someone who relies on public transport, being able to improve their transportation experience is very important. And I think that for people who are trying to get to work in the mornings or trying to get back home in the evenings to be with their families, the faster we can do that for them and provide a much more reliable transportation experience I think is very important especially for working families and working people but also for students and so I think that in my head at least and you know this corridor goes through my district and it goes through a lot of our districts and goes through our city would really not just improve the transportation experience for residents within Monterey Park but I think would help us connect the San Gabriel Valley in a very unique way I think that people who are writing this I think there's an economic benefit to this as well that we're not talking about in terms of people who might be going from one city to another to do their shopping people who might be better connected within the city and within this San Gabriel Valley corridor to be able to use public transport and I think if we can get to a point because I think the biggest criticism I hear from people who don't want to write public transport is that it takes too long that it they're not going to get to work on time and they might get written up or fired but I think what we're trying to do here if I understand this correctly is we're trying to improve that and I don't know how we can get to that point where I'm willing and all of us are willing to Use public transport to get to work and just as our you know Perhaps as a you know as a way to be able to use public transport on a day-to-day basis if we're not working towards improving that that transportation experience so for me it's a great way to be able to connect the San Gabriel Valley in a very short amount of time especially as the Olympics are coming by 2028 and I know that there's going to be I believe four events in the San Gabriel Valley for might be more five five events see five events um this is a great way to be able to connect people to uh these events as well um so um in terms I know there are some concerns and I think the biggest concern I heard from residents uh and business owners is just the fear of losing parking right i think uh sean you addressed that earlier part or at least partly right uh we are working to try to and it has to go hand in hand right uh to uh with um on garvey trying to build our multimodo um parking structure right uh to be able to address some of that but in reality if we're if we're not doing curb running we're doing side running um we're not really losing any parking no so there's no parking

Removal as part of you know as part of the during the peak operating hours.

It would be within the traveling Yeah, and I'm counting the hours. It's it's five hours a day, right? There's 24 hours a day, so I'm not a math major, but I think that it's 19 hours Is that correct? that are fully available to everyone to use, right? So we're only asking for five hours a day. But my question is, if peak hours change or anything changes within peak hours, could we potentially go back and change those?

Yeah, so if the city wanted to make a change, I think one thing that's come up quite a bit in discussions with Metro is it really is a partnership and they have a group that specifically focuses on the bus priority lanes. There could be adjustments to signage. The only thing I think that we'd want to be consistent with is just if the subcommittee was established to create consistency across the cities, we would want to be mindful of what those consistencies are. But yeah, I mean, in terms of the striping and the signage, it would be a signage replacement.

And, you know, I wear multiple hats and I think a lot of us do here. I'm also a teacher. And the things I'm hearing from young people today is they are becoming and want to become more reliant on public transportation. Not just because it's better for the environment and we have an environmental sustainability plan in the city, but also because. There is a high cost to owning a vehicle today that a lot of young people cannot afford. And not just young people, but just people in general, because the cost of gasoline, car insurance, and cost of vehicles have become a lot more expensive today that some families are starting to resort to use public transportation. which is fine, and I think it's great. And I think whatever we can do on our part to be able to improve the transportation experience and get people from point A to point B in a much faster way, I think I'm all about that. And so I want to make sure that I'm perfectly clear and say that I want to make sure that I represent voices that are not here today that generally use based on your statistics and the survey. Public transportation, young people, people who are working, who are trying to get home or are already home or that cannot be here tonight. And also based on our environmental sustainability plan in our city to try to be able to get people off cars and into more public modes of transportation that are better for the environment. I think this is a win-win situation for us in our city. And after, you know, I don't know, council member, I'm sorry, Mayor Lowe, how many committee meetings did we have? Like five of these?

We had three.

Three?

Yeah, we covered quite a bit of ground during them. So each one kind of built off the last. But I also wanted to think. Yeah, they were long. Yeah.

I wanted to thank Stephen, because he's the only one here, Rosemead for hosting these and for feeding us on those evenings. So very appreciative of that. But I want to encourage my council colleagues to think about the positive impact that this would have on riders, the 15,000 people that ride this bus every day. I think that a lot of the times when we make decisions when it comes to transportation, we're specifically thinking of people who are driving in cars. And that's all. In fact, a lot of the discussion that we're having right now is focused on parking. Are we removing parking for people who have cars, right? How much longer is it going to take me to get home or to work if we create this BRT lane, right? Where we're just so wired that way today to think that, and I fall victim to that too, but I think that maybe in this one moment we can think about the riders who ride public transportation and their needs and be able to see what happens. And I also want, well, yeah, that's all I'll say for now.

Thank you Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member Goh. Let's see. And again, thank you for asking some really good questions. I do have one question. Again, this is based on my recollection of the ad hoc meetings we've had, again, in the city of Rosemead. Would this impact anyone trying to make left turns along Garvey?

Yeah. Okay.

And the traffic study you said, which you again, which Councillor Goh asked regarding travel times, was that during peak hours, like commute hours? Yes. Okay. And, okay. I'm just curious, not that I don't know if you know off the top of your head, but was it for a week or a month? What was the duration of the traffic study?

So we collected counts. Typically you do it between Tuesday and Thursday and you make sure one school is still in session and there's no holiday and things like things like that. And then we collected counts. We did our traffic study. And then the city's team also did their traffic study for the Garvey Avenue improvements project. So typically counts are collected on one day and they're through the peak hours. And then what you do is you take the absolute peak of the 15 minute increment. So that the kind of the worst part of that time period and you model it.

I'm asking because I wonder, in the course of doing your survey, was there ever a day in which traffic from Garvey coming from Kasuda Canyon, if it was ever very extraordinary, heavier? And I ask that because what I've noticed, because well, just like Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez, I mean, in between. I work in downtown, so I've taken bus 70 as well. And yes, in the mornings, it's convenience every seven minutes. I've also taken the Metro E line, especially if I have to be somewhere else in LA because the E line connects you with the regional transit system. But I'm also a driver as well. And sometimes I've noticed if there say is an accident on the 10 freeway or 710 drivers get off like around luminarias castle la and they get off usually around there and it empties out a garvey and traffic will get heavier was that ever was there ever instances when that was happened when you're doing a traffic survey

So again, the counts were taken on a typical day. So it was taken on one day. Typically, when you're doing a traffic study, you don't model the worst case conditions. You model what a typical peak is. And I think some things to point out. So what I've seen on the corridor is that there is congestion specifically a little bit further west on Garvey, right? A little bit west of Atlantic. And then it starts to, as you move towards Chandler, it starts to open up. And so yeah, I think in terms of your question and you wouldn't pick like a specific one-off scenario where there's a collision on the on the freeway and then model that because it's not indicative of a typical peak hour congestion and then

Again, as Mayor Pro Tem and Councillor McGill have been concerned, I know this afternoon, late afternoon, we received an email from the owner of Devine's Antiques, Mr. Brian Horne, who again had concerns about the impact of local businesses as well as some residents. And I know one question I have is, in Alhambra, a neighboring city, because the 710 is no longer a project, which is why we're getting money for our parking structure as well as Alhambra, but I'm curious, and if anyone can answer, and I realize Alhambra has not made a final decision on what to do with the stub at 710, but was that ever taken into consideration? In other words, would that be an outlier or a new condition that could impact parking? especially probably evening commuting times. I'm just curious. And if not, that's something that we need to look at. I mean, again, I know there's environmental clearance, but, you know, I think that's something that probably needs to be taken into consideration.

I think what you're talking about is kind of beyond a traffic study and more of, like, a regional modeling exercise. Probably. Which is, you know, I think... fairly large task, but I think a good comment. But yeah, definitely beyond kind of the scope of what a typical traffic study is when we're looking at kind of repurposing a lane.

I just think it is important because, again, so Minor Park, along with Alhambra, and I think some other cities that are part of the 710 corridor, again, they didn't build the project, just like they didn't extend the SR-60 light rail, which some of us were involved in actually advocating. And I recognize that this is Metro's attempt to still address commuting needs. But I think that is something that when, I mean, when you present us to Metro, I do think that that needs to be part of that study. If it is a regional mobility study, because I do have concerns is that, and again, I realize Alhambra has not made, they have, right? Alhambra has made a firm decision. Whatever decision Alhambra makes with the stub by Valley Boulevard near the 710, I mean, that could have impacts to us. And I think that's something we need to be cognizant of. I mean, I understand that. So tonight, this is a concept. It's actually... It's a concept. You seem to go to Metro. And it gets around how much Metro is willing to fund, hopefully, to the fullest. But again, and I hope that when you do your viral clearance, there also is some vigorous community outreach as well. Because again, I do worry about, especially some intense stuff, what that means. especially when Alhambra makes its decision on what to do with that stub, because it could, I think, impact traffic flows here. Having said that, I will say that I do recognize, again, what the intent is here, because unfortunately, communities like ours, like Willsby, El Monte, South El Monte, these are communities of color. A lot of you are transit dependent, and we didn't get a foothill, you know, rail line like the foothill cities, which are more affluent, by the way. We unfortunately didn't get the E-Line extension to our communities because it's going further south to like Montebello, I guess Whittier, but nonetheless, we are communities, many of us will take public transit, and I think it is important that But at the same time, we are not, as an environment, just an issue that in the course of this project that there are unintended consequences. And I will also ask you is that at any time, do we have the right to even, if we want to, withdraw from the project or just say that it's not working? I mean, do we have that ability or authority to do that?

so we have not entered into any agreement with metro um or the cog at this point so we could evaluate that as part of the agreement okay how that works so my understanding is that we we do have options is that correct

Yeah, so I think some of the things that you're bringing up, these are requests that can be brought before Metro. I think from our side, again, I'm on the consultant side, so we can't guarantee any of these things. But the request right now is to understand what improvements the city wants. And then again, if there are certain requests, those can be brought forward and requested and potentially negotiated with Metro.

I think those are some requests that I would like to ask. And the reason why I ask is because, look, I mean, the issue of Garvey Avenue and how do we advance not just mobility options, but also pedestrian safety, this has been an issue that's been going on for many years, if not decades. I mean, when I was first elected to City Council in 2020, if I'm not mistaken, the proposal from 710 Funding actually at the time was to, I guess during commute times, take away the parking lanes and allow cars essentially turning Garvey into a mini or another freeway. And for those of you who may or may not have been around in 2020, and although it was during a pandemic, we had a lot of people calling in, going on Zoom. I think we probably had over 100 people coming out saying they opposed, at that time, the proposal to essentially turning Garvey into another freeway. And rightly so. And again, I get the intent that We are trying to advance public transit mobility, and I'm assuming also connecting this region into the wider regional transit system, the E line, the subway system, Metrolink, which again, I mean, that's something we should look at. What I've said so far is that I hope that is brought back to Metro's, you know, the need for mobility studying regionally, whether or not we have options to evaluate and also withdraw because again, I get it that this is also part of probably the region's plan to be ready for the Olympics. But once the Olympics come and go, you know, I mean, I mean, the the the. The benefits and the consequences this city will have to bear. And that is something that I think is of concern to me and something that I hope that we can share with Mitchell as well. And if I could also say, too, that before you even came to us, I mean, we've been working on our own 710 project, which was, again, bike lanes and also a parking structure at Lincoln and Garvey. And I honestly, you know, I mean, my hope is that if we are to even look well be part of this this conceptual study that that is part of as well because again i believe since what 2021 2020 we've been working with metro on this and is now 2026 and i and i am i have to say i'm a little disappointed that we're not anywhere near where i think we should be with a space of parking structure and i would hope no my request is that again should my request is that should we decide to be part of this regional project that if and when this project is ready the parking structure is ready as well in fact i want that i want to be conditioned that the parking structure is ready as well by the time this project should we decide to be a part of it yeah so i'll just add in um i think in terms of requests for approval the parking structure that's something that we can bring back to metro i would anticipate from a construction timeline the parking structure will not be ready at the same time as this project just based on the

the accelerated and just want to kind of set expectations that part of the reason why we're here tonight is because the set of improvements, we have a relatively short period of time where we can get things ready. So I think that's definitely a request that we can bring back to Metro and put that in. But I don't think that the construction timeline for the parking structure would reasonably be done by the same time as these improvements if the city were to move forward with them.

But nonetheless, I still think it's a request that should be made, because again, it is now 2026, and again, it is now taking six years, and I want to see some movement, especially because, not just because I'm asking, but again, if you were here in 2020, when people in the community came out in mass to say, we don't want to turn Garvey into a freeway, we want alternative, and that alternative is, bike lanes, a parking structure that encourages people to take public transit, and yet Metro has taken this long and it still hasn't been done. And that's something that I am, again, I will say publicly, I'm very disappointed in Metro, that we are still at this point and we're not even, and we're near with some timeline of, well, at least shovel ready, so.

Okay, well, noted.

Okay, I. May I, just, so one follow up. So I agree with your assessment that the parking structure will not be built by next year. I get that. But I really agree with the mayor that the parking structure should be identified and be built before the Olympics if possible. And I think if there is a request back to Metro is that we have the commitment, now we need them to fund it into an account where we're ready for construction as soon as possible. That will show their desire to work with the city in terms of getting the project done. i mean we're not asking you to say build it in six months we're saying take it back to metro and tell them this is part of the requirement that the pre-funding starts so that we get this all set up and then we can build it as soon as possible so just to chime in again so to maya's point even even by the time the olympics get here i don't know that we can have a parking structure completely built and usable um by that time again we still haven't finalized our agreement with metro

so uh as i mentioned earlier we're working with metro or you know we can work with council to um you know provide a support letter um to to metro and their board um asking for them to accelerate the approval process but again even if we were to get approval in the next couple of months uh to go out to construction documents and move forward with getting a contractor on board uh working through that process i don't know that we can meet even that timeline it's a significant project

I understand, and I agree with that assessment. All I'm saying is that we just want to see the money in our coffers so that we can maintain and control that project going forward. Don't disagree. We can definitely continue to pressure them. I mean, I'm looking at this and I think, I don't know if there's a, going back again, I don't know if there's a perfect solution to do this, but I applaud you guys for kind of coming up with a solution. And I think this is a intermediate step to efficiency in the long run. I looked at this as commuters who have cars will sacrifice a minute more a mile but they have the option to drive around, and I have that option. And I look at that chart there, and I look at this, and 87% of the folks who use the bus don't have that luxury, don't have that car. And it goes back to Mayor Pro Tem's comment that know in a diverse community this is their main form of transit and we as a society as a community need to kind of see that and understand that so i think everyone needs to kind of work together and figure out what's best and sometimes or sacrifices here I like that you guys are keeping the parking, because one of the things that I did in the last couple of months is kind of walked around Garvey and asked some of the business owners, like, if we did something like this, which is fast forward from five years ago, how receptive would they be? Their number one biggest complaint or concern and challenge is that there's no parking while we continue to have that parking there. So that alleviates the main concern. What it doesn't alleviate, again, is the delay time between 7 and 9 a.m. And I think most, Sean, you can help me here, most of our businesses don't open until 9.30 or 10.

Unfortunately, I can't speak to that, but I would venture to guess most businesses open around that time. Yeah.

And so just to add to that, we did look up Devine's because I know the owner of Devine's did contact us. They don't open until 10 a.m. And they close at 4, 5? Yeah. So they're not operating.

I'm looking beyond just one business. I'm looking at the entire corridor of business. Stuff that's between Garfield and Atlantic, there's sufficient parking in the back. north and south of Garvey, so I think that's sufficient. But the issue of parking is not an issue, because you continue to have parking. And just one quick question in terms of safety. In your studies, when you see, in essence, during traffic hours, you're decreasing the lanes from two driving lanes to one, because you're allowing the bus lane. And in effect, you slow down traffic. When we do that or when you do that in projects that you have seen in surveys, does that reduce the amount of traffic accidents?

I'll say this. There's a lot of contributing factors, but generally if people are driving at a slower speed, that's going to lead to a safer environment, right? We know, especially vulnerable road users, if they're struck at a higher speed limit, that's going to obviously put a greater risk of injury or, you know, worse, a fatality. We did get a question during the subcommittee about the safety of buses and how many collisions are actually involved with buses. And I think that the percentage was well under or less than 1%. What we found on the corridor was that the highest contributing causes to collisions were related to speeding and right-of-way violations. And so when we look at the design of this, things to address speeding, and also when we think about right-of-way violations, there is some organization to the turning movements with the right turn pocket, and then you're preserving the left turn pockets where they are. Yeah, I think that there's a lot of considerations there, but generally speaking, the collision data shows that speeding and right-of-way violations are currently the contributing factors to collisions on this corridor.

Right. So I would think that during this period of time when there's high traffic and you reduce the lane, it's actually a safer environment. Now, people are less patient because they're waiting a minute long driving. But at the same time, you can offset that. But the mitigating factor to that is you allow the folks who are in the bus who really don't have an option to drive to get through there more efficiently. Let's see here. I think for those reasons that I kind of walked through, I'm in support of this project because I think we as a community, as a city, we're at the forefront from First Street connecting to the rest of the cities. So we need to set a good example as a community also to the San Gabriel Valley to show that we are serious when we want to talk about public usage, public mobility, safety, as well as connecting the Sengebo Valley corridor.

Thank you. Council member go and I think there aren't. I'd like to make a motion there.

I'm sorry. I do have a question. Sorry. Okay.

Well, let me just say 1 more thing. I do want to echo the same sentiments. That the mayor and council member goes said about the Metro. Monies and in regard to the parking structure, I think they are, they are long overdue, but I do want to differentiate and say that these are 2 separate projects. Um, and then I think that that they should not be tied together together because we want to make sure that both of them get complete. Um, but we don't want to make we want to make sure that, um, that. Public riders on the bus are not held hostage because of the monies for the parking structure. But, um, yeah.

Thank you. I guess I have a question regarding the environmental clearance process. Please walk us through, what does that process entail, the environmental clearance?

Yeah, so for this project, it would be qualify for categorical exemption. If you think about the types of improvements we're proposing, there's really no digging in the ground. Everything is focused on a quick build improvement that could be done before the Olympics. When we start getting into categorical or excuse me, environmental clearance for the midterm plan, it would be more involved, right? Because you're starting to look at more substantial project costs. So there are certain requirements in terms of technical studies. In addition to the ones that we did on for this project, you also have public meetings. So in terms of the question for environmental clearance for this project, it's a fairly streamlined process because of the nature of the types of improvements.

I guess, and you touched upon, those public meetings, I mean, obviously it's in the future, but will those be held here or in the cities that are part of the project, like, you know, Monterey Park, Rosemead, Amani stuff? Will those public meetings be local? Because I just want to make sure that, and to the city staff as well, that we do rigorous outreach to our residents and to our businesses so they can participate and ask those questions about environmental impacts of this project.

Yeah, so I think to just set, you know, kind of be clear. So the midterm project is a more involved construction project. That would be something that would constitute a requirement for public meetings for the CEQA process. For this project, there wouldn't be a requirement for public meetings. However, if the city wants to make a direction in terms of types of outreach to the group, that's something that we can, you know, take back and consider as part of the project. But it wouldn't be tied to, again, this stage of the project. And we would also want to be mindful of We, you know, we'll take that request. We want to make sure that we're able to also, if the city wants to put improvements in place before 2028, we want to make sure that we're moving things along to actually make that a reality.

And then maybe some more to see stuff. But I do think for us, I think it'll be important that we make sure that the public is kept in touch the entire time of this process because I have a feeling that there will be some folks who have questions, and once we transition the project, there will be some disruptions. I have no doubt about that. Yeah.

Understood. Yeah, we can work with the COG on continued outreach, updating the public through social media, through the Cascades, various other avenues to make sure they're updated with where we're at in the process.

And I think especially the local businesses. I think the businesses, in fact, they need to, I mean, they need to be kept in touch. So, again, they know. Because I would even say, like, I mean, again, tonight, depending on what this council does, but especially through each state's process, I think it's important, again, just to make sure the public is aware. Because, again, this is a concept, but you will have to now go back to Metro. And when will you be going back to Metro with your proposal for funding?

SO I THINK THAT'S GOING TO OCCUR AS SOON AS THE COG CAN. AGAIN, I'M ON THE CONSULTANT SIDE SO THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT WILL OCCUR BETWEEN THE COG AND METRO BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS BASED ON THE TIMELINES THAT WE WOULD NEED TO WORK WITHIN IT WILL BE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

I mean, I know COG, the board has a meeting tomorrow. It's not on the agenda, right?

It's not on the agenda. No, we wouldn't, first of all, we wouldn't move forward with it without actual direction from the city. So that would probably be a fairly bold move on our side if that was on the agenda for tomorrow. But yeah, they would need to go through the process of actually agendizing it, and that can take a little bit of time. But I think in terms of, again, we would want to move it along as quickly as possible if the city does desire to implement these improvements before 2020.

November is what I'm hearing, maybe.

Yeah, that sounds about reasonable, so.

Okay.

Any more questions?

I have one more request, Maya. The other request is when you guys go back to your group to have a discussion, I'd like you guys to consider the traffic route in the morning instead of maybe using both lanes because we know traffic is only coming from one lane or one side of the street. Think about maybe traffic on utilizing the methodology on one side in the morning and then the other side in the afternoon. I like to kind of see that kind of played out in terms of through your studies, how that would affect traffic flow.

Actually, I would concur with my colleague, Mr. Goh, because again, as someone who, from where I live, for me, either to get to the freeway or if I even wanted to park my car and take the bus or train, I mean, yet I do observe that because people are going west, that's where the traffic's heavier, less so going east. And so therefore, I would think it may not make sense to make... what I believe the non-commuting side also a dedicated bus way even during those hours and vice versa. I would imagine in the evenings it's going east but probably less so of the denser traffic heaviness going west I imagine.

So we can look into it. I think just two considerations. So in terms of the phasing of the project, it is, you know, the goal is to lay the groundwork for a future year build out. So that would be something to consider. And then the other part, too, is just the other cities that have taken action on it. There would, you know, I think overall there's a goal to provide kind of consistent approach. But I think that's something we can look into and consider.

Yeah, I would say please also have that discussion with the other cities because they would share a similar view. If not, then we're the exception. But I would think they would share a similar view based on the flow of traffic coming from Amante in the morning versus going to Amante in the afternoon.

Is there a representative from Metro here that can help answer that question? I'm trying to understand what my colleagues are saying. Is that something that's common that we would do, that we're just saying we're only having a BRT lane going in one direction in the morning and then in another direction in the evenings during these peak hour times because we're seeing more traffic flow heading west in the mornings and heading east in the evenings?

um i've never seen that so i'm just uh but i'm not sure if that's yeah that's common or not i can start by answering there are some examples of it but it's usually targeted very um like when we look at the traffic volumes there are peak volumes but it's not a there's a certain really dramatic peak like in some cases or a dramatic direction i think you all are pointing out something that's correct i think we all know that there is a directional travel but typically when there's most of the my understanding is most of the bus lanes um within the

county are usually serving both directions but there are some where there might be something that's focused on a directional travel so it does exist but it's it's not as common well I think the easiest way to answer that and if we have someone for Metro here is how many buses go from east to west in the morning versus the other way I'm pretty sure you have ten buses going the other way and five buses coming this way in the morning

Yeah, I can look at the specific schedule, but it's fairly consistent in both directions. You are right, there's a slight difference in terms of the ramp-up schedule and an acknowledgement of that West versus East movement, but this service runs pretty frequently. So it is fairly consistent in both directions.

Yeah, and I want to say that usually when I travel, I travel the opposite way. And so I'm just directionally looking and saying like, man, everyone's going my direction, right? Because I feel like that's the direction I'm going. And then I'm looking at West and I'm looking at downtown LA. I'm like, no one's going to downtown LA. But actually there are a lot of people going to downtown LA. So I'm just trying to understand that and wrap my head around that. But I think that You know, this is all relatively new to us in terms of, you know, there's some sacrifices being made, but as Councilmember Goh said, for the greater good. So, you know, I think we have a unique opportunity here to advance a project forward for public writers, I think, yeah.

Okay. Any more comments?

That said, I would love to entertain and would motion to move this project forward, knowing that this is still in the concept phase and that you guys are going to be moving this forward, but also to acknowledge that our sister cities have already moved this forward, and so we are the last remaining city to try to move this forward for public riders.

Okay. Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez. I'll make the second. Hearing no further debate and discussion, members please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

And can we have the council members come back inside please?

OK. OK. OK.

Thank you so much. OK. Next, let's see. I'm sorry. Give me one moment. Sorry. Okay, onto the consent agenda. Do we have any items that need to be pulled?

I'd like to pull item 10A, so we can get a brief presentation of the artwork. Okay, 10A.

Okay, item 10A, uh-huh. If no one's pulling anything else, I'd be happy to move the other items forward. Okay, moved by Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez. May I have a second, please?

I'll second.

Seconded by Council Member Goh. There's no further debate or discussion. Members, please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay. Item 10A. Approve artwork submitted by artists Jeffrey Shea, Andrew Davidson, and Timothy Yan for mural in Barnes Parks, celebrating all parks and Monterey Park. So, okay. Staff report, please.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council Members, Robert Aguirre, Director of Recreation and Community Services. Tonight we have a unique opportunity. We were recently presented with a opportunity for a community mural at the Barnes Park Community Center that would be fully funded through private donations. So this is a nice unique opportunity and we were approached actually by recreation and Park Commissioner Gary Lau as well as a number of local pickleball players who are interested in privately funding this project. They also were responsible and started working with three local artists. So tonight with us we also have Jeffrey Shea, Andrew Davis, and Timothy Hong, who all have attended the Art Center College of Design and have studied under Darren Inouye, which you may also already know from the Georgico mural that we have over at Barnes. So they've all studied under him and then two of them have actually graduated from the art center and one is still a current student. So they've come up with a conceptual design. So the location you'll see there is on the south facing wall of Barnes Gym. That is the wall that faces the pickleball courts. So that serves two purposes. This is obviously a very large wall. Next slide please. But also, this is a very white wall that faces directly towards the pickleball court. So when pickleball players are actually playing, sometimes the sun will reflect off of that wall and does impact some of the play when they're playing. So that's... The location for the proposed mural and next slide please. And the theme for the mural is actually to celebrate all of the city's local parks. So you'll actually see all 14 parks throughout the mural. There's also a number of amenities that I think residents will gravitate towards. Notably, one of the things that I noticed right away was the a very famous concrete turtle that's still located at the playground over at Sunny Slope Park. And actually when I pointed that out to one of the artists, they shared with me that they've been a resident, that it's something that they recognize that kind of That community gravitated toward that was very nostalgic for a lot of the older residents. And so I wanted to make sure and incorporate that into the mural. You'll notice other amenities like our cascades, the pickleball courts, the Bella Vista playgrounds, and then also a new feature that. Will be coming later on this year is they've incorporated the new design for the Sierra Vista playground Which will be a tongue of a theme playground and also how we'll have a large Climbing acorn at the at that park so they've incorporated that into the design as well so tonight Uh, we're sharing with this concept with you, this design has already gone to the recreation and park commission as well as the community community participation commission. Both of those commissions voted unanimously to support both the design as well as this project. And so tonight we're hoping that council will also approve this project to move forward. That completes my staff report, myself as well as the artist and also Commissioner Lauer here for taking any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Members?

Thank you for that presentation Robert. I just wanted to showcase the mural because I think it's a beautiful piece of art and I wanted to acknowledge our Commissioner Gary Lau who's here as well as the artist Jeffrey Shea, Andrew Davis, and Timothy Yan. We're very much looking forward to the art when it's drawn on the wall in Barnes Park. So thank you all for being here and I'd like to make a motion to approve item 10A.

May I, Mayor? I look forward to that. That looks good on paper. So when it gets up on the wall, it's going to be fabulous. And I love the content of us celebrating the 13 parks that we have. So thank you, Commissioner Lau and also the CPC group for doing all that.

Is this going to be painted by hand or is this?

yeah looks very complex uh but i mean yeah looking forward to this coming up how long is it going to take to put up oh so their their goal is to get this done by the end of this uh calendar year um i'll invite them to the podium if they want to share any other additional comments or

Actually, if you come up to the podium, sorry. We're recording the meeting. I'm sorry.

Let's get all the artists to come up to the podium there. Hello, good evening.

Hi, good evening. I'm Andrew.

Hi, I'm Tim.

And I'm Jeffrey.

Hello. How long is it going to... Tell us a little more about the project and the thinking and the concept if you guys are comfortable.

Um, yeah, so basically, yeah, everything. Um, it's a celebration of all the parks in Monterey Park. Um, we intend, um, if everything goes well to start in the next couple of weeks, um, we're planning to get help with, um, from Darren and OA. Um, and yeah, we, um, we don't know exactly the timeline of how long it's going to take, but, um, we will, it will get done by the end of this year.

Cool. No, I'm looking forward to Gary being up there with the paintbrush, too. I'm very much looking forward to it. That's all I've got. Support, and I just will note for Robert, there are so many more white walls that need some painting and art, too, so looking forward to what's next, too. Working on it.

yeah i think this is a great mural thank you for um for sketching this and for um doing this in our city um question is um to council member uh wong's comment maybe after you're done with this one uh you might want to do another one um in our city using perhaps a different theme but i think it's great that um that this is a Mural about our parks, uh, being done by residents from our community. Um, I think in the past we've mainly hired out. So.

Or actually, some of them are, that's all the recent artists have been local. Yeah, it's been so even adding to that.

So, thank you. Yeah, looking forward to this.

Yeah. Um, thank you so much. I believe there was a motion made. I'll second. Okay. Um, most made by counselor. Yeah, I think my customer go, you know, for the debate discussion members to vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you. And thank you. Okay. We got item 11 public hearing. There is none new business 12, a consideration possible introduction of, and first week of an ordinance adding Monty park municipal code 3.100.1 30 to delegate authority for subcontractor substitution on public works contracts. Is there a staff report already?

Good evening. All mayor, mayor pro temp. City Council, Sean Angle, Public Works Director. Let me pull my notes real quick. So tonight you have an item before you to consider and possibly take action to introduce and waive first reading. of an ordinance adding Monterey Park Municipal Code section 3.100.130 to delegate authority to the subcontractor for subcontractor substitutions on public works contracts. This will streamline public works contract administration by delegating subcontractor substitution decision to the city manager or designee. This will reduce administrative delays and by making the process more efficient while also maintaining required legal procedures. Joaquin and I are here to answer any questions.

Thank you so much. Members?

Okay. Thanks, Sean. I appreciate this. I mean, this makes, as a concept, makes a lot of sense. Do other cities already have this kind of authority? How does this work with other places?

Yes, my understanding is other cities do this. I know that some of the other jurisdictions that are represented by our legal team have the same.

And just to confirm, so this would not, if it would still be under the same total costs, right, those are still requirements for moving forward on this, and the authority to potentially change out subcontractors wouldn't affect final costs?

No, it should not. And if it does, then we would, depending on the cost change, we would come back to council. Right.

Cool. Thank you.

Okay.

I'll make the motion.

Moved by Council Member Wong. Oops, sorry. Mr. Mayor, if I may, there is an erroneous recital E, so I would just request for any motion, if there were to be one to approve, it would be with the deletion of recital E. Thank you very much.

So moved. Okay, thank you. Moved by Council Member Wong. Do I have a second, please? Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem. Hearing no further debate or discussion, members please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. City Communications.

Several city staff, myself, and a couple of our council members attended the ICSC conference in San Diego the last few days. The Monterey Park had a booth there and it was a very fruitful event and we met a lot of different players at the conference.

Thank you so much. Yeah, I was one of the attendees with Council Member Yang, and we spoke to at least a dozen or more prospects, businesses, national chains, to invite them to look into our city's vacant properties so that they can create or start bringing new businesses here into our city. Prior to that, we had a tribute on 9-11 last week. And then on the 9th, I attended a Mar Vista PTA drive. So for teachers and parents, remember your PTSA drives are now going. Please support your local schools. um on the fourth last the prior friday uh the library is still showcasing uh as part of the 250 year anniversary of the united states this is the chinese american cantonese exhibit at bruggemeier library we had over a hundred plus attendees that day it was a pack house with standing room only in the back to showcase the chinese american in particular this is the cantonese americans who came to the to the u.s as part of the gold rush and part of the rebel workers in the transcontinental railroad and it kind of showed a legacy being parts of the fabric of america contributing to the american system So I was more than happy to attend that. That's all I have. Thank you.

Okay. Just wanted to also share that I was at ICSC with my fellow colleagues. Got an opportunity along with Council Member Goh and I were and Yang were going around trying to pitch our city to a lot of national retailers. Had some interesting conversations with a lot of different retailers. Let's see if they pan out. If they do, my daughters will be happy to have Chuck E. Cheese or one of the other ones come to our city. But anyhow, a lot of interesting conversations happening. Also wanted to wish everyone a happy Mexican Independence Day, which is today. But also do a plug for our National Hispanic Day celebration next week on Thursday. Right, Robert? Next week, Thursday at 6 p.m. 6 p.m. I got it. See at 6 p.m. where our city will be celebrating National Hispanic Month. Right. In our celebrations. And then. Uh, wanted to share. Oh, yes. And then this past weekend, um, on Saturday had an opportunity to attend the, um, Mexican independence day festival. Uh, in East L. A, which actually, um, our city part. Kind of participate in that. Um, it starts within the, um, within our city only about half a block from my house actually. So. I had an opportunity to attend and participate with my family. So it was a lot of fun and a lot of celebrating all day. I could hear the music from my house and all the celebrating. So with that, that'll be it for me.

Thank you, colleagues. Let's see, for me, I wanted to just report this past Saturday, September 12th, I attended, I actually participated in the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Los Angeles Lodge, their 12th annual oratorical contest. in the morning that was held at the Ohio Marine Flight School District Boardroom. And I'm happy to report that, of course, Monterey Park residents, students, I'm sorry, were represented by Mark Keppel. And not surprising because we have incredibly talented students from our schools. And again, I also want to just thank the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, Los Angeles Lodge, in particular, their youth coordinator, Rick Ng, who grew up here in Monterey Park and actually his family still, actually they own Ing Plaza, but I just want to thank Rick and the Alliance for doing its annual oratorical contest, and again, I was very honored that morning from nine to 12 to be a judge in that contest. The topic, which I don't even know how I would answer, was, I guess it was called the lifeboat, debate in that if you're on a sinking ship and the boat only has room for like say five people, but you have three times that, how do you determine who boards the boat? It was interesting to hear the students come up with their arguments. I know I certainly would struggle with how to answer that question. But again, just to show the intelligence and caliber of our students. And then, because I believe we won't have another council meeting until October, but I, as mayor, have enjoyed doing our mayoral meetups. Our last one was at Hong Kong Cafe. Our next mayoral meetup will be at Asayaru Maid Cafe at Atlantic Times Square. And for those of you who probably are familiar, since Asayaru Maid Cafe moved into Monterey Park and made their new location here, they have had a strong following. They have had, they participated in our Cherry Blossom Festival. I've noticed whenever one drives past their location, a lot of times go to the line to get in. So it must be very popular. So I'm very, we're very honored that our next mayoral meetup will be at Sayo May Cafe. For the occasion, I will dress for the occasion at that mayoral meetup, so please come. And with that, nothing else. No closed session, right? I don't report. Okay, then I adjourn the meeting at 8.50 p.m. Thank you.