City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening, everyone. We are going to go ahead and get started with the Norbach Housing Authority regular meeting of July 21, 2026. Teresa, can we have a roll call?

Agency Member Zayala? Here. Ramirez? Here. Valencia? I don't see Hernandez. Vice Chair Rios and Chair Perez?

Here. Moving to consent calendar, can I get a motion? I'll move. I'll second. Can we get a roll call, please?

Agency Member Zayala?

Aye.

Ramirez?

Aye.

Valencia? Aye. Vice Chair Rios?

Aye. And Chair Perez? Aye. And do we have a community development director's report this evening?

No reports.

Thank you. And any rural communications for housing?

None.

All right. With that, we'll go ahead and adjourn this portion of our meeting and give us a moment so we can set for our regular council meeting. All right. Good evening, everyone. We'll officially call the Norwalk City Council meeting of July 21st, 2026 to order. I am going to read our open meeting public comment script and our process for Zoom meetings. Before we begin this evening, I'd like to share information regarding a new government code regulation that most California cities must comply with for all city council meetings. Effective July 1st, Government Code Section 54953.4 requires cities to implement two-way audiovisual and telephonic services to all City Council meetings. As such, meetings will be run slightly differently to include Zoom participants. In-person individuals will continue to submit a speaker card to the sergeant at arms. Individuals participating in the meeting virtually through Zoom will need to raise their virtual hand if they wish to speak on consent calendar or items on the agenda and under public comment once I ask if anyone wishes to speak on these items. Callers will be muted until it is their turn to speak and muted again after they speak. When I ask if there's anybody wishing to speak, this is the time for individuals using Zoom to raise their virtual hand. If using Zoom app or website, there is a feature that allows participants to raise their hand and if calling in by phone, press star nine to raise your hand. As a reminder, each person will have three minutes to speak. Only one comment per person per item is allowed, and no one may transfer their time to others. In-person individuals will be heard first, followed by virtual speakers. Please be respectful of all in attendance by following the rules of decorum. All right, so once again, we'll officially call this meeting to order. We are honored to welcome Pastor Myrna Brito from Spirit Life Community Church to lead tonight's invocation. Pastor Brito has faithfully served for over 20 years with compassion and dedication. She's inspired by seeing others grow closer to God, celebrating their spiritual growth as personal miracles. in her spare time i'm sure you have tons of that right in her spare time she enjoys spending time with family and taking peaceful walks we are also pleased to welcome back miss haley garcia a norwalk resident an incoming freshman at norwalk high school haley is an active cheerleader and participates in our tap program at the norwalk arts and sports complex She enjoys reading, building Legos, and dreams of being a surgeon one day. Pastor and Haley, please come forward to lead us in the invocation followed by the pledge, and then we'll invite you both to join the City Council for a photo. If everyone could please stand.

Let's pray. Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus, and we're so grateful, God, for this opportunity. We thank you, Lord, for everything that's gonna take place tonight. I pray, Father, your favor and your wisdom upon every council member, every person that makes decisions for our city. We thank you, God, for the grace and the favor that you've placed over our city. We see growth, we see change, we see progressing, and we thank you for that, God. I pray that you would bless all of our first responders, all of those, God, that are in the line of defense, defending us. I pray, God, for all the construction workers across our city that are working so hard to beautify our city and for it to grow. We thank you again for this opportunity, and we ask that you would bring peace and joy upon every person that's here tonight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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

Ready? One big smile. One, two, and three. One more. One, two, and three. And one more. One, two, and three. okay thank you so much

Right, thank you for that. Theresa, can we have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Zayella?

Here. Ramirez? Here.

Valencia?

Here. Vice Mayor Rios? Here. And Mayor Perez? Here. And Arnold, can we have a closed session report, please?

Yes, thank you very much, Madam Mayor, members of the council. The record should reflect that the City Council, with all five members being present, discussed the one item listed on the closed session agenda that no action was taken that is required to be reported at this time direction was provided to the agency's negotiator. With that, that concludes my report from closed session. It's appropriate to continue with the open portion of the meeting.

Thank you, Arnold. All right, moving next to council comments. Again, welcome, everyone. I hope it's a little cooler in here for you all than it is outside. So enjoy the air condition for a moment. This evening, we'll go ahead and start with Council Member Valencia, Anna.

Thank you. Happy summer. We're looking forward to the summer concerts, just the different activities. There's a lot going on in Norwalk. Please, I invite you all to participate. And then tomorrow, I think, is our second summer concert. And it's supposed to be 40s, top 40 type music. And that's going to be fun. And that's going to be at Norwalk Park. So I invite you all to come on down. And I think that's it. I'm going to be away for a little bit. I'm taking a little much-deserved and much-needed break, a little vacation. But I wish you all a happy summer. And of course, please stay hydrated. I've read a lot and seen a lot of reports from people, oh, I don't need some water. I'm okay. No, we need to stay hydrated. We need to stay healthy. Dehydration is a serious matter. It happens a lot to my students. I was online teaching and some of them were complaining of that. But it's something that's very, you know, it can really creep up on us. So please stay hydrated. Stay healthy. Enjoy the summer. Enjoy the different programs that we have. And I'll see you all when I get back. Thanks.

Council Member Valencia, happy birthday, Anna.

That's why I'm leaving. Yeah, Sunday's my birthday. Well, enjoy making memories. Happy birthday. Thank you, Mayor. All right.

Next, Council Member Ramirez. Rick. Thank you. Council Member Ayala. Tony.

No comments at this time, Mayor.

Thank you. And Vice Mayor Rios. Margarita.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of things. First, I want to welcome all of you to our council meeting this evening. Hope that you are enjoying the summer. The summer is my favorite time of the year, so I've been enjoying it as much as I can. I do want to share that tomorrow there is a Coffee with a Cop at the Senior Center at 1030. So if you're not already aware, and if you have a chance, or if you want to share with family, friends, and neighbors, the Senior Center is open, and everyone is welcome tomorrow. Coffee with a cup at 10.30. And I know there's a couple of other events coming up in the future that we're working on, something fun and exciting and a little different, and I'm looking forward to. So if you can, please join us. Also want to remind everyone that the city council leadership team and the city team is working on the urban forest management plan that is going to be presented to everyone this evening. But I'm going to take this opportunity to please remind you, if you haven't already, Thank you, Teresa and Levi, whomever, thank you. There's your QR code, scan it. I see a board on the back, at the back of the room. It is so easy, a couple of minutes of your time, and I know the staff has been working so hard on this project. Thank you to all of them, and this survey is your opportunity as a community to participate and give us some feedback, whatever you choose that may be. But please, if you haven't already, take a second or a moment to complete the survey. It's really quick and easy. And do us a favor and also share with others to please participate so that we can get some results. We can actually, this is the community's opportunity to have a voice in the process and give us some feedback. We're all gonna have the opportunity to look at and share. So really, really appreciate that. I also want to share that there are some incidents that have recently occurred that I'm not okay with, specifically certain individuals that have lost their lives. due to the immigration rates. Now I say this hoping, you know, speaking my piece, being respectful of others and hoping that others reciprocate the same respect, but there are things that have occurred and I just feel that there's a need to mention the fact that innocent lives were taken. And I know I've said this before, I am a strong supporter of law enforcement. I've done almost 29 years in law enforcement. I'm 1,000% supporter of public safety. But there's also a way to do your job, I believe. And I've always believed that. And I cannot say that I have confidence in the tactics that are being used by ICE. And I just have to share my sentiments on that because it's just not okay for what is happening. And as a law enforcement professional, I know that there's different ways sometimes people perceive in that moment. It's the only way. But as I said, I do not have confidence in the tactics that are being used during the ICE immigration raids. And finally, Mayor, I'd like to ask that we close in memory of Lori Guillen, and if I may, I'll read a little bit about her. So Lori was a former Paramount City Council member from 2017 to 2022. She also was a retired 30-year veteran with the Los Angeles Police Department. So Lori passed away on July 4th, 2026. The family, relatives, friends, residents of the city of Paramount and the many of those whose lives Lori touched are truly saddened by her passing. A lifelong resident of Paramount and a graduate of Paramount High School, Lori dedicated 30 years to the Los Angeles Police Department where she held a variety of assignments and earned the respect of colleagues and the Los Angeles community through her leadership, professionalism, and commitment to public safety. Following her retirement from LAPD, Lori continued her deep commitment to public service by being elected to the Paramount City Council in her first run for public office in 2017. That's when I first met Lori. Lori Guillen proudly served on the city council from 2017 to 2022, bringing a deep commitment to the community and residents of the city she called home. After serving five years on the city council, Lori decided not to seek reelection to focus her commitment and time to her family, grandchildren, and other community environmental justice and public service organizations. During November 2016, Lori and her family and her relatives founded the Paramount Community Coalition Against Toxics. The coalition was launched over the urgent need to tackle the longtime air pollution crisis in Paramount and wake up the community to the environmental health risks in Paramount. Lori Guillen will always be remembered with gratitude for her years of public service and dedication to environmental justice, social justice, and making our communities better places to live. And Lori was only 60 years old. So God bless her and her family, and may she rest in eternal peace. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Margarita. Lori's family is a big St. Linus community and parishioners. My kids went to school with her nieces and nephews. Very, very great family. So we've been thinking and praying for them. Thank you for that. So just some of my comments with meetings and events that we've had recently. As mentioned, our summer concerts did kick off two weeks ago. We had Knight Rider there, which is one of my favorite bands. And we also had a special guest. Sheriff Luna was there as well, who is also a big fan of Knight Rider with his wife and their family. So it was great to have him here in Norwalk just so we can enjoy the outdoors together. The breeze was nice. A lot of our community booths were out there promoting events. So thank you to our entire recreation team. public safety, public services, and our leadership to, you know, start these types of events for our communities. And we do have one tomorrow that is starting. And not only are we having the summer concert that was mentioned, but it's also the chamber business expo. So come on out, meet some of the businesses that are here in our city. I'm sure there's going to be lots of information. It will be tomorrow. All of the information is on our website and our social media pages. And I'm sure if you're here in the audience and you have a burning question, Karen Spilsbury, our Executive Director of the Norwalk Chamber would be more than happy to answer that for you. I want to thank the entire team at the Norbach Senior Center. I was able to attend and experience all this with some of my family members last week at the Senior Center. And it was their first time going to the Senior Center. And they were blown away. So thank you to the entire team and to the community of residents that were there. Just everybody had a great time. And you better believe, Tony, there was dancing. Of course there was dancing. Let me tell you that. So thank you all for that. And we continue to have so many events going on here in our city. Check our social media pages for calendars, updates, what time, where. I know that we got a report last week as we do every week with the activity at our Park and Recreation, the summer lunch programs, how many lunches are being picked up, our PALS at the park, a lot of great activities going on in the summer for our residents. And it's definitely felt and enjoyed by so many. We do have the Seroptimus Quartermania is coming out, coming soon, Sunday, August 2nd from 1030 to 2 p.m. I know the information was also shared on our social media pages. If you have never been to a Quartermania, let me tell you, it's a lot of fun. A lot of fun. And even better, it's for a good cause. So there's a lot going on. Take some time. Get out of the house. sit in somebody else's air condition for a minute and enjoy your community all right with that we do not have any special presentations this evening so we're going to jump right into city manager comments and i'll turn it over to jesus

Yes, thank you, Mayor, members of the City Council. Couple of items that we have for you tonight. The first one is we have the cooling center at the senior center, and it's gonna be hot these coming days, and so we wanna make sure that the community knows that this cooling center, which is a senior center, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., including Saturday and Sunday. So for those who need a respite from the heat, please join the Senior Center and they will have activities for you, but most importantly, the air conditioning will be on. WE ALSO HAVE A SCHOOL SAFETY PRESENTATION FOR THE COMMUNITY. SCHOOL IS ABOUT TO START, SO WE CONGRATULATE THOSE THAT ARE COMING BACK TO SCHOOL AND WE HAVE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR WHO WILL PRESENT A QUICK UPDATE ON SCHOOL SAFETY. just so that everyone understands and is safer when school begins. Rita?

Thank you, Jesus. Good evening, Mayor and Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. Tonight, I'll be providing an update on our school safety efforts as we prepare for the start of another successful school year. This evening, I will highlight the proactive measures, partnerships, and community outreach efforts to support a safe and successful start of the school year. So the objective is simple. It's to provide a safe and secure return to school by enhancing safety, increasing high visibility patrols, educating the community, and strengthening partnerships with schools and residents to protect students, families, and school staff. I will briefly go over the new Assembly Bill 413, which is also known as the Daylighting Law. As a reminder, AB 413 is a California's daylighting law which prohibits parking within 20 feet of the approach side of a marked or unmarked crosswalk. This law improves visibility between drivers, pedestrians that help reduce the risk of collisions, especially around schools where children may be crossing the street. We encourage all motorists to park responsibly and allow extra time when dropping off or picking up students to help our school zone or keep our school zone safe. An example of some of our community outreach and education efforts is we collaborate with local schools. This one specifically was with Morrison. We provided signage to put around their school site, and we also collaborated with them on a video, so we will be reposting that as well as our Norwalk Now, social media, and with partnership with our public affairs and communications team, we're pushing that message out to the community.

Good morning, Officer Han. Hey, how's it going? Good morning, Officer Garcia. I hear that a new law came into effect as of January. It's being enforced as of May 1st, and it is a daylight law. Can you inform the community of what that is? Absolutely, Principal Lauzo. So vehicles cannot be parked 20 feet within any crosswalk, whether it's marked or unmarked. And that is a state law.

20 feet is approximately the length of a large SUV.

And this ensures the safety of all adults and children in any school. And we appreciate your support because we are a community and doing this is very important. Thanks again.

Attention, Norwalk. By keeping crosswalks clear, we can improve visibility and improve pedestrian safety. Let's work together to maintain a safe and connected community. Thank you. So the call to action is just we continue to encourage the community to be aware and continue to follow the laws. Our commitment to school safety extends beyond enforcement. It requires a partnership of our school, students, families, and the entire community. Together we can really make this school year the safest yet. Thank you.

Thank you Rita and I do want to make sure that the public is aware of the safety new laws that have been passed so that they can drive appropriately and drop off appropriately I think that's one of the most important things to drop off and pick up this is a this is a back to school type program right yes so I wanted a little more clarity on what the plan is for reaching out

to students and parents, because basically, how are we planning to reach them before school actually starts if it's a back-to-school program?

Right, so this is the beginning of just an update, but we will have social media and public safety will do some outreach as well. So Rita, you wanna address that?

I mean, when you're talking about outreach, I mean, you know as well as I do in the past, on the first day of school, we have PSOs out there, we have sheriffs out there, we have, you know, they're personally making contact with residents and students and the whole thing, and I just wanna make sure that it's not some, well, we're gonna put in Norwalk now. Oh, we're gonna put in social media. Oh, we're gonna do this. We're gonna communicate with schools. We're gonna communicate with the kids. I need to know what the details of that are.

Rita, do you have that?

So when this law went into effect, it was more the education piece. So we did a partnership with obviously law enforcement and public.

You're talking about Crosswalk specifically?

Crosswalk specifically, as well as the partnership we have with school safety. So I'm currently working with the chief as when he came on board last year. And we've been partnering with them, providing those high visibility patrols as well. So we get peak times, we get start times of all the schools. During spring, before and after spring break, parents usually need the reminders of the enforcement and the education piece. So we're constantly going out there, not citing, but educating the community and reminding them that if they are in violation or not.

Okay, well, when school starts, we need to be hands-on. I'm not going to... I'm not going to be satisfied with that we talked to the school district and that, you know, we kind of did this and that and the other thing. They have to be out there interactive with the residents. Not just that, but with the residents that live around there. Because we've always had a problem with vehicles parking in front of other people's driveways, stopping in the middle of the street, dropping people off. And there's a lot of schools in town. So it's a challenge to have the kind of visibility that we need to have. I'm just saying, put meat on the bone. I mean, we've been through this drill for several years now as to what that sounds like. but there's gotta be more specificity on what that is actually gonna look like.

Yeah, we will have PSOs on those days that school starts, but we wanna make sure we provide enough information prior to leading up to that, the date. But yeah, the sheriffs are out there along with public safety, but also in coordination with

the school public safety officers as well because they have a pretty pretty uh robust public safety well use it as a as a tool for community policing because you know you have the ability to actually be out there and talking to kids and parents and everything else which is the basic model for our community policing program correct so let's not miss that opportunity

And Jesus if I can also add read it can we add ABC unified to this list and because we do have several schools on in the South Norwalk area that are in the ABC unified school district so just as much we as we communicate with Norwalk La Mirada and Little Lake we need to always do the same with ABC unified and I would shoot give them a copy of this video and let them push it out on all of their all of their social media platforms as well.

thank you mayor thank you yeah if i may also for the outreach portion of it we do go to a lot of school events that's what our quadrant officer does for outreach efforts in addition to that and we also have our ots ground which is the pedestrian education piece that comes into play so last year alone we did 76 school events so that was part of our outreach efforts to also remind residents community members parents and students alike that this law is into effect so safety is priority for our community so thank you thank you yes so next we have the independent state festival event recap video

Norwalk celebrated Independence Day a little early as the Recreation and Park Services Department hosted the annual Independence Day Festival on July 3rd at Holyfield Park. This year's celebration carried extra meaning as Norwalk joined communities across the country in marking America's 250th Independence Day. From the afternoon into the evening, families and residents enjoyed food trucks, arts and crafts, kids games, and a foam zone that gave children a fun way to cool off and join in on the summer celebration. On the main stage, the celebration began with a special presentation of the American flag. Following the presentation, Olivia Livy-Woolard led the crowd in singing the national anthem.

And the home of the brave.

Following the national anthem, Kids Talent Academy brought energy to the stage with a series of high-energy dance performances. As the event continued, the tease band kept the celebration going with live music that had the crowd dancing, singing along, and enjoying the summer night. And finally, the moment many arrived early and stayed late to see, the fireworks show.

On behalf of the Norwalk City Council, thank you for being here tonight and celebrating our nation's 250th birthday. Three, two, one, happy 4th of July, Norwalk!

GREAT EVENT. VERY WELL ATTENDED AND JUST LOTS AND LOTS OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY, FAMILIES THAT WERE THERE. SO NOW WE HAVE A SHOWCASE OF OUR BIWEEKLY EVENTS FOR THE CITY OF NORWALK. JUST TO GIVE YOU A TASTE OF WHAT WE HAVE, BUT ALSO WE HAVE LOTS COMING. SO THIS IS JUST A TASTE OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED.

The City of Norwalk kicked off its summer concert series on July 8th with a live performance by Knight Rider. Families and friends gathered at the park for an evening filled with music, dancing, food trucks, and plenty of summer fun. Join us for our next summer concert on July 22nd. On July 11th, the Norwalk Aquatic Pavilion was transformed into a Coachella-inspired pool party for Aqua Carnival. Residents had the chance to cool off with water slides, participate in arts and crafts, enjoy music from a live DJ, and engage in games and activities both in and around the pool, making it an unforgettable summer celebration. The Norwalk Senior Center was all shook up on July 15th as Elvis entered the building for an unforgettable afternoon of rock and roll nostalgia. Guests couldn't help falling in love with the timeless hits as they sang, danced, smiled, and shared plenty of burning love with friends.

Lots of activities that you could join in. Next, I have the immigration update. Since last city council meeting, no immigration-related inquiries or requests for assistance have been reported through the city's community preparedness resource hotline, emergency resource line, or during in-person interactions. The city continues to provide residents with access to reliable immigration-related resources. The Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights, CHIRLA, hosted a resource table at the Social Services Center, providing residents with information and referrals to available services. CHIRLA will also be available tomorrow at Norwalk Senior Center from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. to provide outreach information and resource referrals. And that concludes my city manager comments. Thank you.

Thank you, Jesus. Before we go to the consent calendar, Theresa, can we please play the audio recording?

Good evening. Following are the rules of decorum for the meeting. Please be respectful of everyone in attendance while speaking. Individuals will not be allowed to continue speaking if any of the following occurs. Any conduct that disrupts or disturbs the meeting. any conduct that interferes with or disrupts persons who are addressing City Council or City Council members while they are speaking, or attacks of a personal nature on City Council members, City staff, or other speakers. Each individual is allotted three minutes to speak, may only speak once per item, and may not transfer their time to others. Comments must be addressed to the City Council. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Is there anybody wishing to speak on any of the consent calendar items? Theresa, any in person or on Zoom?

I do not have any cards, and there's no one on Zoom that has responded.

Thank you. All right. With that, I'll go ahead and call for action or motion on the consent calendar.

So moved. Mayor, I do have a question on number 5, if we could move. And with the rest of them?

Do you just want, you wanna see the report on item five?

Yes, I have questions and wanted to see the report, yes.

Do you want to vote on that one separate? Sure. Or can we see the report and then vote on all of them together?

That's better.

Okay, so Jesus, if we can have a report, please, on item number five, and we'll hold Anna's motion till after that report is given.

Great, being members of the City Council, Mr. Albert Mendoza will present.

Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council. Item number five tonight addresses professional services agreement for a contract for project management, construction management, and inspection services. Public Services Department is responsible for implementing the city's capital improvement program, which includes roadway, traffic signal, underground utilities, and facility improvement projects. Effective project management, construction management, and inspection services are essential to deliver the city's capital improvement program. to support the city's capital improvement program and other city-wide efforts the city issued a request for proposals number 25-815 on november 13 2025 via the city's planet bits portal soliciting proposals from qualified firms to provide city-wide pmcm and ci services the rfp is for an additional it's for initial three-year term with two optional one-year extensions On December 10th, 2025, the city received a total of 19 proposals. Those include Accenture, AKM Consultant, Allied Construction, Civil Tech, CPMG, Cumming Group, DCCM, JPJ, GM, LE Associates, Mars, others staff examine and review the submitted proposals based on several factors including technical knowledge the proposals team experiences scope of work and qualifications the city shortlisted four firms that's akm consulting engineers dccm plastic engineers and ty lynn Funding to support the PMCM and CIS services will be incorporated into future capital improvement project budgets at the time of award. The agreement with the selected firms will be for an amount of not to exceed 500,000 annually. Individual task force for specific on-call services will be issued under the agreements which appropriate funding allocation identified and included at the time of task order authorization. Just to clarify that 500,000 number, it's not random. This is an estimated amount that staff has been getting from construction management inspection services for individual projects. So this is what staff estimated to be annually. The recommendation, staff recommends city council approve agreements with all these four firms to provide city-wide on-call project management, construction management, and inspection services for a term of three years from date of execution with two optional one-year extensions, again, in 500,000, that estimated amount, annually per firm, and authorize the city manager to execute the agreements as well as any extensions or amendments provided there is funding in the budget and it's within the city managers signing authority on behalf of the city and approved by the city that concludes the report be happy to answer questions thank you albert margarita i'll go to you first since you wanted to hear the report or questions

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Okay, so thank you, Albert, for the report. um i guess i i wanted to get an idea um i guess you can say kind of a bigger picture of what we're doing or what the staff's vision is in terms of our consultants and the decisions that are made to bring on those consultants for a variety of services and what i mean by that is i know that at other meetings before the council has been items to approve consultants for different engineering services. So going back to as I started getting a bigger picture, I was looking to have information on how many consultants do we actually have in the city of Norwalk for engineering services specifically in our community development? How much historically have we actually spent on these type of consultant contracts? And how do we track the scope of work that these consultants are receiving or can be anticipated to receive? And I know that the team is rather busy, but the reason I was looking to get a bigger picture of exactly what was transpiring kind of behind the scenes is looking at the fiscal, you know, are we fiscally, are we thinking about maybe is it more fiscally responsible to bring on an additional full-time engineer? I mean, I don't know. why we continue to see consultants bringing on different consultants. And I mean, if that's what works for the team, then that's fine, but I still would like to see an explanation for it. But the reason I say maybe bringing an employee and actually incorporating a new member of the team is because I feel that they would be more vested in the projects that the city currently has on its play and will continue to perform. So what can you, I don't know if you're prepared to do that this evening, but I know I asked beforehand that I would be, I had some questions. So what can you share with us this evening?

Yeah, so what I would say is that there are specific project needs. For example, this fiscal year, we have almost $118 million of capital project, and we have program projects. So the volume of projects that we have, we don't have the necessary resources and staff. We are hiring an assistant engineer, right, that we made an offer. We're still recruiting for an associate engineer that could help. Construction management and inspection, they're a little different than engineering. I mean, they are engineers that do this, but we just don't have qualified staff that does this type of work. So what we do is we carefully evaluate the proposals and the needs of each single project. And we rank them based on number of points that we assign for a category. For example, similar projects that they worked on. It could be the experience from the team that is being presented. And all that, we rank them and we score them. Now, I don't have an exact number for you that I will get for you. Maybe in the next meeting I can report how many active contracts we have for what specific projects I'm sure that we have several But I don't have that at the moment with me

okay and yeah i mean if if i could ask that we or i am asking that at our next meeting we have some type of spreadsheet information i'm sure it's available to the team they just have to put it together as far as the number of consultants who they are you know how much has been spent you know what particular project they may be working on and what project they can be anticipated to be assigned to get that we're looking for that expertise I just again I want to make sure that we are proceeding you know with the best approach when it comes to hiring consultants assigning our budget and getting the best you know doing the best that we can so that our projects are on time and etc as you know

right you know the whole purpose is to have this on-call bench so we can prepare it and be ahead of the game uh typically we don't want a delayed project so this will streamline or expedite the procurement process so we have we will have these consultants ready submit proposals right select the most competitive come back to council and approve them and we'll be ready by the time that uh we get construction bids

Yeah, okay, and the other request I would have is that we really scrutinize those firms that are submitting their proposals, because I only wanna see the best of the best. And I know that we've had some issues before on certain projects, so if we've had issues where they're, you know, invoice for an inspection and the project, there was a number of issues on their project, but they were part of the inspection and oversight, I would prefer not to see that particular firm anywhere on any of our projects in the future. So I just wanna make sure that we're really scrutinizing so that we get the best of the best. And if there's been issues in the past, then sorry, we move on to the next best candidate.

Oh, absolutely. They're not performing, you know, we can request change of personnel at any time.

Okay, thank you.

Madam Mayor, if I may.

Hold on one second, Rick. Anna had a question next. Anna?

Thank you, Mayor. All right. I did have questions because the high numbers just kind of, you know, screamed at me. And I did call and I got some information. And thank you, City Manager Jesus for giving us some information and Albert for putting this chart together for me. And so I do understand better now, you know, what this is about. And Margarita, you touched on some of the things that I had wanted to talk to, but that's good because now we've got some information. The other things I wanted to follow up on were the monies that are used to fund this. Are they spearheaded? Are they money that we get from certain funds for these types of projects?

Yes, so it could be a combination, Councilman Valencia, with Measure R, Measure M, or any grants that we have, federal projects, all that is being charged to those specific funds. Yeah, we don't use, generally we don't use the general fund for that. That's what I wanted to note. It's being captured.

I wanted to note that and I wanted for it to be heard and recorded. Because many people, oh, you're spending money on this and this. Well, actually, we get money spearheaded for certain projects. And I wanted to note that. It is not coming from the general fund. And that's important to note. The other thing is the 500,000, it's, you know, all of these, if the, that's the top, that's the cap, right? Now, one of the questions that I had for a city manager is what happens if it goes over? Because looking at some of the numbers from the past, Sometimes they have gone over. And that's to be expected. Sometimes things go over whenever we have projects at home. We've got to look at things, at least I look at them that way. I kind of compare, okay, well, I've budgeted this amount for this. But you know what? Things have gone up. Things are not always the way that you want them to go. And you have to kind of make some adjustments. so we here in norwalk we've made some adjustments and we do make the adjustments however i just also wanted to note on record that if there are um instances where it you think it's going to go over 500 000 it needs to be approved by us is that correct oh that is correct no we will come back and it may be 500 000 maybe 250 000 but definitely staff will be coming back to council for approval for approval, and then we have to approve and we get reports and we ask questions. Yes, that's correct. Thank you very much. I appreciate your answers. Thank you. Rick?

Yeah, Madam Mayor, thank you. Great comments, colleagues. I appreciate that, that your due diligence in researching this. I agree with Margarita. There should be a spreadsheet distributed to the council so we can at least have some input, because we do have a lot of issues with some of these engineering firms through many projects throughout the city. I'd also like to know, as part of that spreadsheet, if you can include the criteria that makes up that short list? Is it an interview process? Is it a grading process? And how are these four selected for on-call? So I'm not too sure if we're in a rush to approve this or we can table it till they provide that worksheet and that criteria. They're on-call, so I don't think it's that urgent. So I wouldn't approve this until I see that spreadsheet and all that criteria.

And I hear what you're saying, Rick, before we have any other discussion, I think Annie whispered it as well. I don't know if that's our role. Because we're here to make policy, not process decisions on what the staff is recommending. In my opinion, I think that's getting way too far in the weeds when it comes to the scoring and that's not my role sitting here as an elected. Our role is to make and create policy and pass that down. It's a form of micromanaging when it comes to looking at the way that these RFPs are kind of scored and processed. I see, I mean, it looks like in this particular contract or this staff report, there was 19, if I read that correctly, 19 companies that submitted part of the RFP. And that was in the staff report. And two of which are on here are ones that I recognize right away. If I recall, I mean, we've worked with Transtech for many, many projects within the city. And TY Lynn, I believe they were one of the construction managers for our Firestone Bridge project that we just approved. So I'm ready to move forward with this because I have confidence in the team that whoever is on this panel, and if you guys got spreadsheets that I see some have, I don't think all that information was shared with everybody. So I'm okay with that, though. Because I have to trust our staff, and they have done their due diligence in judging 19 RFPs to bring that to us at this point. And I mean, like I said, and there's two on here that I know that we work with on a regular basis, and we just thanked and celebrated for the work and the great job that they did on the Firestone Bridge project. So I don't think we need to get into what's the role of council and what's not the role of council, but I think that's getting way too deep into what is not part of the role of council.

Well, I'm not saying that it's a part of our role, but I like to be informed. I like to see how they're grading. I like to have that information. I'm not just gonna take it for granted. We're elected here to beholden to the residents of this community. you know that's yeah we're policy makers but we're also managed we're also here to manage as well because we get the complaints we see the we see the work that's being done i just like to be more informed like i said people got this spreadsheet most some of us didn't so what's the difference i mean just bring the report and then we can decide we're not going to we're not going to make the decision for you obviously we trust you we we hired you in good faith to make those decisions but i'd like to see the data before you Not to say that we're gonna influence your decision, I'd just like to see the data before we make the decision to approve just something that's on a report. That's just my position.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. You know, I always like to, when I have questions, I do try to give staff as much time as possible, because I don't believe in gotcha moments, definitely don't want to do that. And if I have a question and I want to be informed and have that information and that knowledge, I would want staff to come and be prepared to give it to me. I wouldn't surprise, you know, so I just think as elected officials, we should always give our, the team as much advance notice as possible so that they can prepare because the point of questions is to get answers. And if I don't give you a heads up, I have questions, then you may not have the answers, which defeats the purpose. But I do appreciate, you know, the information. I do think that anything that comes before the council on an agenda item, whoever, it may be that has a question, if there's additional documentation presented, I do believe that every council member should have that as, you know, another informational piece or document for the presentation. Now I'm, and I've said this before, and the reason I would support if we could hold on this item is really for one reason, and it's no secret, I've said it before. I expect very concise reports. i want information that's going to help me to make an informed decision and i think my questions were valid in the sense that i i should have an idea of how many consultants we've approved in the past because we've done that recently now you know uh you know a little few meetings later here we are again approving more consultants so that's going to give me a little bit of a pause to say okay maybe i i need to maybe have a bigger picture to realize what's going on And I only know that based on what staff presents. And I trust that staff will give the information to us, but you need to know what we want to see, right, or what we need to make an informed decision or to be more knowledgeable on the subject. I look for very thorough reports and this to me just kind of makes sense because if staff is asking me to approve three additional consultants when just a couple of meetings ago we approved consultants, why are we now being asked to approve more? Why are we now assigning more budget dollars, however those budget dollars, where they're generated from, we're assigning to these particular projects? What are those projects that we can anticipate these experts are going to be looking at in the future? I'm not so concerned on your criteria on how you decide who you select. I did give you my feedback asking that you select the best of the best and that you take their track record or other work in the city as a consideration. Hey, you didn't do a good job, guess what? You're not gonna be selected. But if you have been doing a good job or you come with a positive history of doing good work, then yeah, we're probably gonna give you a shot. so my only ask um and why i would support if possible waiting on this item is be is because i want to have everything before me you know i'm just you know that at least i hope you all know that that i just look for very concise reports and maybe you can't always predict what we're going to look for or ask but i think that this is in this case it is reasonable because it's so relevant and timely. And again, we're adding on to what we've already approved before. More consultants, more money, more projects are coming. Okay, well tell me why and how and when and what. So that's all I'm asking for.

Thanks Margarita. Just to ask a question from what Vice Mayor just said, do we already have specific projects lined up that these consultants are going to be jumping in and taking care of right away?

Yeah, so the intent is not to go to RFP for each project. The intention is to have a bunch of consultants that we can go and get proposals, because essentially they already have pre-qualified. So we won't go out for proposals for our specific projects. We have the Excelsior repaving job that we need to staff it. we have uh other projects that are residential street projects uh that we need assistance with so there are a number of projects that again what we don't want is to go and competitive bid because that's the whole purpose of the on-call we already did a competitive bid process right uh we have a score it's a it's a fair and transparent uh process that we go through all consultants who are interested see the scoring they know uh what we're looking for uh now uh to respond to councilman rick ramirez question about um there's a there is a process right uh staff may interview the top four the top three consultants right if we believe like we need more uh we have questions about the company about the projects right if something just doesn't really uh add up we we do have that option so uh and we do reach out to them and uh we want to make sure that we bring uh the the best most qualified consultant to our city and so you said that there are projects already lined up you mentioned excelsior is that what i heard you say okay thank you anna did you have another question um you know i'm i want to honor

our colleagues and their concerns. But I also had a similar question to you. We have lots of projects going on. We've got so many things going on. Something like this could halt some of the things that we're already working on. I don't know if waiting on this to get more information would help any. I'm pretty much ready to vote on this because I believe and I trust that staff has done due diligence in getting all this information. I mean, as a former board member for Norwalk La Mirada School, just for 19 years, we had a lot of these things, too, where they would go and get requests for proposals, and you'd get the biggest bang for your buck and whatnot. And sometimes we were not in in agreement, you know, because we had heard other things, what have you. And so, you know, you do, you bring up some questions and what have you. But in this case, I don't know, I'm pretty confident that the processes that have been followed are those that I think would benefit us. But I also want to honor, you know, Margarita and Rick's um concerns and so i don't know i you know i guess it would go on to a vote what have you but i'm a little torn but i would be ready to go thank you hold on one second yeah i know that uh

We've used this strategy for quite a while in the past of having a deep bench of engineers and gone for these projects. And as far as I can tell up until this point, everything has gone pretty much the way we needed it to go. I think the recommendation is well-reasoned, but I also think there is value. And at some point, council getting a refresher course on how these selections are made. because I know it was explained to us, but it's been a while, and all I'm saying is that, how are they scored? Just any of the criteria that may be involved in this kind of thing. This seems well-reasoned to me, and we need to, maybe we need a refresher course on how this works, but I'm with Council Member Valencia that it doesn't make sense to me at this point to hold this back for information that we really probably should know anyway. So I'm gonna go ahead and support this.

Thank you. Margarita?

Yes, just as a follow-up to the mayor's question and the response. So that, quite frankly, gives me even more pause only because I would like to know that staff is prepared and thinking ahead. And specifically to the Excelsior project, we've been talking about that for a long time. And so then I guess it just creates another question in my mind is we, again, as I mentioned, just recently approved an agenda item for consultants. So my thinking would be, well, knowing the projects we have in the pipeline, Excelsior being one of them, why did we, if it is a time issue, why wouldn't we have seen that approval for consultants? Well, I guess what I'm saying is that the If it is an issue of timeliness, are we preparing with enough time to actually make sure that we have these consultants on board? If we're now just bringing on consultants for the Excelsior project, but we had the opportunity when we approved a similar agenda item in the past, it doesn't make sense to me, I guess. It just doesn't because then it kind of gives me a question of, well, are we preparing with enough time and thinking enough forethought to say, hey, we have the Excelsior project. We're going to bring this to council to say we need these consultants. And so that just gives me even more pause. So I guess regardless of how this goes, What I would ask is if staff brings to council an agenda item similar in nature, in this case, I'm just gonna use the consultants, asking us to approve additional consultants within a matter of a few meetings, please have a better explanation as to why. That's all I'm asking.

Thank you. Okay, we had a first. I'd just like to add. Oh, sorry, Rick.

No, so I'm understanding, so all your on-call consultants, based on your criteria, they're being on QBS, right, quality-based selection, right? Yes, we're not scoring any fee. Okay, also, so what happens in the event that you open up the bid and they're too high? They're out of our budget, a specific project. What happens next?

Yes, if they're over budget of what we estimate, so based on our engineer's estimate, right, we have the option to negotiate with the most qualified. If they don't agree, then we move on to the second.

So you can go back to your top number one pick and negotiate the price, and if they're not willing to budge, then you go to the second QBS, right, the second quality-based selection? That is correct.

Okay.

I still, based on my colleague's comments, and this was previous before this agenda item, the concern that she brought up, I don't think there's an urgency, at least in my opinion. I don't like to rubber stamp a lot of these projects that come up here. I like to do my due diligence as well as some of my colleagues, and so I would hope that we would come back with that criteria and the information that was requested before I can make a decision. To me, I don't think it's imperative that we make the decision now. But we'll see how it goes.

I feel the same way only because I want a complete report, Albert. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, so we have a first for the consent calendar from Anna. I'll go ahead and make that second. Teresa, can we have a roll call, please?

So I'm sorry, I need point of clarification, just because there seems to be some discussion on this particular item. So do you, well, it wasn't.

We pulled it for a report. But not for a separate vote. To include is a vote altogether.

Right. But now I'm asking, do you want to separate the vote? Because you're going to have the consent calendar as a whole versus this particular item.

I think we can go ahead and move it as whole. And then if there's an individual vote on a specific number, can't they just note that out loud?

They can. If that's what you'd like to do, we can do that. I just want to make sure. Yep. Okay. So we have a motion and a second for the consent calendar as it stands. Council Member Zayala.

Aye.

Ramirez.

Nay.

Excuse me. On the consent calendar? We're voting on the consent calendar as a whole. That's why I was asking.

Well, if we have this item on there, I can't vote for the whole consent calendar.

You can vote yes on items.

I'll vote for items 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

No on 5 is what you're saying? No on 5. Okay. Council Member Valencia.

Aye on all of them.

Vice Mayor Rios. I'm going to abstain on this one. I don't have all the information I need.

You're abstaining on just item five. Item number five, yes, thank you. Just abstaining, though. And Mayor Perez.

Aye, and I abstain on a list of items under number three that I will provide to the city clerk.

Okay, so all items on the consent calendar pass, three to two. Or 311, I suppose. Thank you.

All right, moving next to item number 13 for appointments. Any of my colleagues have appointments this evening? All right, moving next to item number 14. And that is updated City of Norwalk urban forest management plan. Jesus?

Yes, Mayor, members of the City Council, tonight we have the updated forest management plan before you, and we will begin with Mr. Albert Mendoza.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the City Council. Tonight I will be presenting an updated urban forest management plan. This plan provides a long-term roadmap for managing preserving and expanding Norwalk's publicly maintained urban forest. The purpose for tonight's presentation is to provide an overview of the plan, highlight some of the key findings and recommendations, and receive any feedback from Council before returning on August 18th for formal adoption. So why update the plan? So the trees are much more than just landscape. They're an important part of the city's infrastructure. Our urban forest provides a wide range of environmental, economic, and community benefits. Trees improve air quality, reduce urban heat, capture stormwater, support wildlife habitat, and beautify our neighborhoods, and improve the quality of life for all of our residents. Because of these benefits, it's important that we have a long-term strategy for managing this valuable public asset. As our urban forests continue to mature, advances in urban forestry technology and climate resilience highlighted the need to update the plan since last it was updated in 2014, and that's to reflect our current industry standards and city's evolving needs. To complete this effort, the city retained West Coast Arborist, who is present today should any technical questions arise. To conduct a comprehensive update of the plan, Their work included completing a citywide tree inventory, evaluating the condition and diversity of our publicly maintained trees, assessing our existing canopy, and developing long-term recommendations based on current industry best practices. The result is a comprehensive data-driven plan that would guide how the city manages and grows its urban forest for years to come. So as part of this update, West Coast Arbor has completed a comprehensive inventory of the city's maintained public streets. The inventory identified more than 16,000 public streets representing 252 different types of species and 51 plant families. One of the most encouraging findings from the inventory is that nearly 82% of the city's publicly maintained trees are in good condition. Approximately 15% were rated as fair, meaning they are generally healthy, but may exhibit minor stress or require routine maintenance. Only about 2% of the trees were rated as poor and approximately 1% were identified as dead and approximately 1% were dead and candidates for removal or replacement. Overall, these results indicate that Norwalk has a healthy and well-maintained urban forest while helping staff identify where future maintenance and replacement efforts should be focused. While the inventory confirmed that our urban forest is generally healthy, it has also identified opportunities for future growth. The inventory located numerous vacant planting sites throughout the city that can be used to expand our tree canopy over time. Rather than planting trees randomly, the plan provides a strategic approach that considers location, species diversity, available space, and long-term maintenance needs. The overall goal is to increase Norwalk Street canopy by approximately 3% every decade through encourage the planting and preservation efforts. So the estimated number of trees and costs to achieve this 3% goal effort is to plant 404 trees per year, so that equates to over 4,000 trees in a decade. To give you a perspective, the estimated cost, I have listed three types of trees that we normally plant, either a 15-gallon tree, a 24-inch box tree, or a 36-box tree, which we typically recommend because they're a more mature tree. if we were to install 400 or plan i'm sorry 404 trees that's approximately three thousand and three three hundred and fifty three dollars per year or 3.5 million in the next decade or so and that that is staff plan to come back on the 18th and recommend that we we adopt and approve a 350 000 budget to plant these trees and achieve this goal Another key recommendation included in the plan is modernizing and expanding the city's approved tree palette. Our current approved tree list has served the city well for many years. However, it includes a limited number of approved species, and some of those trees have become increasingly difficult to obtain through commercial nurseries. The updated plan expands the city's tree palette by introducing a broader selection of trees, including additional California native and climate adapted species. Rather than relying on a small group of trees, staff will have greater flexibility to select the right tree for the right location based on available planting space, site conditions, and long-term performance. The plan even categorizes recommended trees by parkway widths to help ensure successful planting and reduce future conflicts with sidewalks and infrastructure. This approach also improves species diversity, making our urban forests more resilient to pests, disease, and changing climate conditions. So beyond the inventory itself, the plan establishes a long-term framework for managing the city's urban forest. It provides consistent maintenance standards, improves species diversity, establishes planting priorities and opportunities, strength climate resilience, support future grant opportunities, and creates a framework for long-term budgeting and planning. In other words, this plan becomes the city roadmap for managing our trees over the coming decades. Community outreach and community support. Our community involvement continues to play an important role in success of our urban forestry program. The city already conducts annual outreach through our Arbor Day celebration, which includes volunteer tree planting. In addition, we're currently conducting a community survey throughout the month of July to better understand the residents' perceptions of our urban forest and identify priorities that can help guide future implementation efforts. The feedback we receive will help shape our future initiatives and continue building community support for our urban forests. Our implementation strategy. So tonight's presentation represents the discussion phase of this project. Following tonight's presentation, staff will incorporate any feedback or direction provided by city council. We'll then return on August 18th with a recommendation for formal adoption of the urban forest management plan. Once adopted, implementation will occur over multiple years as funding becomes available through future budgets and grant opportunities. It's important to know that adoption of this plan does not authorize any new expenditures so long that staff recommends council adoption. Instead, the plan serves as a long-term policy document that will guide future budgeting decisions, operational priorities, grant applications, and future capital planning related to the city's urban forest. Staff recommends that the City Council receive and discuss tonight's presentation, provide any desired feedback or direction, and direct staff to return on August 18th for formally adoption of the urban forest management plan. Our partners from West Coast and staff, as I mentioned before, are available to answer any questions you may have. That concludes my report.

Thank you, Albert. I know I have to admit I did not read word for word on the draft report. It's 299 pages long. So I appreciated the summarized version and then some of the graphs that were presented in the draft report because it If I had any further questions, I knew exactly where to follow that up in the report to actually get that additional information. So thank you for that and for some of that clarifying information. Anna?

I did have a couple of questions, and I did call and ask. There is a follow-up, though, that I did want to make clear here. The results of the surveys, I think that will have a big impact. And it's information from, you know, all sorts of folks from our residents. as to how they feel and and i asked a city manager to please get us those results um prior to well before august 18th because that would make a difference in my um in my way of of looking at i mean that's data that's that's really you know good data so once it's compiled it would have you but hopefully well before august 18th we can get it

Oh, absolutely. So we're conducting the survey throughout the entire month of July. So we will have results, we will note any feedback that we get from our residents in our in our in our staff report.

And then I also wanted to mention, when I went to South Korea in the summer of 2019, one of the things that I noticed, and we were educators that we went as a delegation, and very green, especially Seoul and the surrounding areas, and I just said, I'm amazed, and it's beautiful. And the translators there and the people there from the offices of the education, they told us something that I thought was like, wow, blew my mind. Students... children, once they enter school, they get to plant and adopt a tree. And they take care of that tree for, you know, until they graduate. And then many even after. And that's one of the things that they do. It's not just one. It's the family gets involved, too, and then they do it as well. And I thought, well, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing for so many other countries or cities, counties, what have you, to do as well? That's something that I think, and that's actually one of the things that I put when I took the survey, is that maybe we could do something like that. I think it's just beautiful. also looking at what kind of trees and what have you. But, you know, it was just, it was wonderful. And, you know, I did my due diligence and also submitted my feedback. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Margarita?

I'm very excited about this one. It's been a long time coming, and I really want to take this opportunity to thank staff. I know that you guys have been working really, really hard, and I want to thank Jesus for giving me the opportunity to give feedback and share my insights or requests or ideas or opinions. Thank you, because I know he takes that back to the team. You all convene and think about it, you know, and So I really, honestly, I appreciate it so, so much. And I want to thank West Coast Arborists for being here. I thought I recognized you all. It's good to see you again. So yeah, if you know me, you know I love trees and you know I love the environment. And, you know, we talk about so many things in the city and I know that we're working on a lot of projects and infrastructure and brick and mortar and streets, repavement and, but you know, For me, it goes even beyond that. It goes into the vision of this city in the future. And, you know, trees are something that have so many benefits. And I'm really big on the environment, climate, resiliency, clean air, you know. the uh the fact that a tree canopy provides so many benefits that not just aesthetically but for your well-being and just again just thinking into the future because we all come and go buildings you know are built and you know but again brick and mortar but i'm talking about or my vision is even more than that you know it's a vision for the future and it's a vision for generations you know they'll be able to hopefully look back and appreciate that we planted those trees that we took care of the tree canopy that we had a vision for our urban forest that we were concerned with the air that they were going to breathe and their surroundings and that we were going to be that city that was beautiful you know and so this is really i'm super excited about this one and i know that we had Again, I've been talking about this for a while. We're closer to the adoption of the plan. I know when I met with our city manager on Monday, I just wanted him to, I asked that he clarify the recommendation specifically about there not being no fiscal, I forgot the verbiage at the end. What was the verbiage at the end of the recommendation, Albert, on that last slide? Well, I know, I know Jesus knows because I know we just talked about this on Monday. So if you can just clarify that only because like any other plan, when this council adopts a plan, there should be some FISCAL ATTACHMENT TO IT. THERE SHOULD BE SOME DOLLARS ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO, YEAH, MAKE IT HAPPEN AS THE MAYOR JUST SAID OR GET US CLOSER TO OUR GOALS. AND SO I WOULD FEEL BETTER HAVING AN IDEA ABOUT THAT. AND I KNOW OUR CITY MANAGER SAID THAT HE WOULD CLARIFY THAT PIECE FOR US THIS EVENING.

Yeah, just to clarify, Jesus, if I may. Oh, okay. Yeah, so we estimate about 350,000 that we need to allocate. Go back to the slide. Per year.

Yes, I remember the slide, yes. But taking it a little bit further, a step further, where are we and when are we planning to actually allocate those dollars specifically to this plan to get us closer to our goal?

So the recommendation is to start this fiscal year. Start this fiscal year, staff will be asking to approve $350,000 to initiate that plan to achieve that 3% goal. So every year, we can, if there's budget constraints, maybe not 350, maybe we can do half, but just keep in mind that that goal will be delayed you know, by another year, two years, right, depending on how much budget we allocate. And I think the adopting this plan, it will be a huge benefit to the city because a lot of grantors out there are looking for this plan. By us having an adopted plan, right, give us more opportunity for being successful on those type of grants.

okay yeah i just wanted that assurance that this is going to be a priority i mean this is this was part of the initiative on our our goal and i know the last time our council member ayala said that's the rios's goal it's really not it's our goal it really is as a council it's our goal and so i really hope that we all you know get behind what needs to happen here so that we can actually put some you know, show some progress in the goal with our urban forest management plan, which obviously contributes to our strategic goal overall. And as I mentioned, you know, trees are important. People may have a different opinion about trees, cost, and why and where, but this is money, in my opinion, very well spent, very well spent, because this is going to speak to, you know, what's to come for future generations. And so I'm super excited. I want to thank everybody, all the work that they've contributed to make this happen. And if I may, since we do have West Coast arborists here, I'll ask one of them to come to the podium and just give us three very important reasons why we need this urban forest management plan and why trees are important. Just a real quick, because I know you're here and you are the experts, and I just want everyone to hear from you all. Just give me something good here.

You guys hear me? So I'm Charlie Polito with West Coast Arborist and I'm a board certified master arborist. So yeah, I mean, I love trees, a lot of great benefits, environmental benefits, a lot of social benefits from trees. And one thing that I did notice in Norwalk's tree inventory was a lot of vacancies, but also a lot of opportunities. And in those 10,000 vacancies and the 404 trees that we were recommending that you guys plant every year, for future generations, kind of the benefits that I see, it's where the city is at now with its trees and where it's gonna be in the future. driving down some of these large arterials, I'm already envisioning these big trees just kind of spreading over with a lot of the urban heat island effects that we have, keeping the community cooler and more enjoyment. I saw a lot of your guys' outdoor activities over the summer. a lot of trees in the background, so not only the environmental benefits, the social benefits, but even it's part of the infrastructure, so there's also a big value there. We have roads, buildings, brick and mortar, but the trees will bring that value to Norwalk, and it's already a tree city. USA has that designation, but I think adding more to the inventory, to the city, I think everyone will benefit. Oh, most definitely.

Thank you, Polito.

Okay, thank you, have a good one.

All right, thank you. Thank you, Albert and the team for bringing this together. Yep, go ahead, Tony.

Yeah, I really like the idea of Councilmember Valencia of adding a youth component to this and associating it with a specific tree, because I know, Gabby, I've been in Arbor Day the last few years, and we got Councilmembers there, got our own tree. Now, is that open to other people in the community as part of Arbor Day, where they can kind of adopt a tree or something like that, or...

Yeah, I'm sure it is.

I mean, it's a volunteer type of program already that we do. I'm just saying it makes sense to me to add that youth component and, you know. Second that. Gabby was the one I talked to the last two years in making that happen. So I didn't mean to shortcut you, Alvaro. I just wanted to, you know, she's the one I worked with. But I think why it's important from a psychological standpoint is because kids are gonna be thinking long term, and as we all know, trees take a long time to grow, and it gives you some perspective on whatnot. I can remember being a youngster at Norwalk Park when Norwalk Park had a whole ton of really mature trees before the sports complex was built. And I can almost recall where they were at, you know, because they were just so much part of the park. And so that still makes an impression on me. And honestly, I like the fact that, you know, that after I'm dead, there'll be, you know, a couple of trees out there, you know, that, you know, with my name on it, that, you know, and they're gonna be cared for into the future and stuff like that. I think since I've been on city council, my wife and I, I think that's one of the more significant things to receive because it's there forever. My grandchild will know where it's at, my kids know where it's at, and I think it's, I think it was the staff, Gabby, what I think is a really good idea. And I just would like to see that continue, but enlarged to incorporate kind of what council member Valencia is talking about. I don't know how it would work in coordinating with schools and that kind of thing. I don't wanna give you a whole ton more work, but it just seems to me like it's kind of moving in that direction already anyway, because you gotta have that community engagement going on. So anyway, I've just been really happy with what you guys have done with Arbor Day and given this, and I just think that there's a natural connection there, and with Arbor Day, you already have a foundation there educate the community. How many trees did you plant when we were over by Glacier? I mean, I know you went in the neighborhood and did plant a whole ton of them, didn't you?

Yeah, I brought my family too. I think we planted one together and we helped, assisted other families, but it was great. I mean, we generally enjoyed it being there. We do have a name on the tree, too, so I'm sure that my kids will enjoy going back after it's premature.

Yeah, I think it's a real positive thing, because it helps us identify what Norwalk is. And I think all those pieces are really important, especially for all of us, but for the youngsters, too, and understand the significance of what that is in their community. Thank you.

Thank you. Well, I was going to jump in. So I was going to touch base on Arbor Day and planting the trees. Tony, our very first Arbor Day as elected officials in 2017, we planted a tree by Dee Dee Johnson on Foster Road. And then I remember planting trees at Hollyfield Park with the baseball teams. And then this past year, I planted trees with Albert's kids. And we named the tree. So, Anna, Tony, it's a great, great concept and idea. I think it's definitely worth expanding on. But it's great because you're right. You drive by and you see the tree. And just the other day I was going to my parents house and took a detour just because I needed a few moments and that's something that Vice Mayor talks about all the time is the moments that you can appreciate within the nature and what's all around us so. Looking forward, I am looking forward to the 18th. I would love to see the data incorporated like Councilmember Valencia had said. I know I had asked how many surveys have been completed. Let's keep pushing to get more. I think we had less than 350 surveys completed at the time that I asked, which was Monday.

Yeah. Yeah.

So keep pushing. If you are listening out there, I'm sure there will be a survey at the concert tomorrow night. Get those surveys in. Let us hear from you. Because we would love the opportunity to hear from more people if possible. So that way we can have a solid final report on the 18th.

Margarita, did you have one more thing you wanted to add? Well, I want to start by, raise your hand if you completed the survey. West Coast Arborist, you can complete it, too. Everybody in this room should be raising your hand, okay? And I just want to share that, as far as my colleagues mentioned and, you know, very, very good valid points about community and that piece is, you know, that was what was very important in the survey. You know, I know that I, along with the team, you know, I was able to provide, you know, those questions to you on what should be included. And you included pretty much all the questions I asked be included. And it was really centered around community because, you know, that's such an important component of it. and so i'm i mean it i feel so good hearing that the mayor goes and enjoys the moment tree and i just that's i'm gonna picture that now i'm like oh you know um and there is that i do have a tree out there but i'm not gonna say where because i you never know so i'd rather keep that on the down low but there there is a margarita tree there's a mayor's tree at the time mayor's tree out there somewhere

that's why i do not disclose location all right thank you hey susan albert i think you have direction and looking forward to the final report to be adopted on the 18th all right and anything else we're good all right moving on next to item number 15 and that is our 2023 strategic plan report jesus

Yes, thank you mayor members of the City Council. It was presented at the last City Council meeting and so we provided slightly additional information that we thought was relevant to some of the goals and so as the council adopted the strategic plan and for us as staff it's a work plan if you may. it is the priorities of the council that you provide to us and then we implement those goals and objectives and tasks that are given to us and so we asked for feedback and we were provided some feedback so we want to just update you on it and then receiving file and then maybe ask for the subsequent strategic plan. With that, this strategic plan was from 23 to 25, and we are now presenting it to you. And so I wanted to just highlight a couple of guides in terms of the strategic plan. The second, go ahead. So this is a sample of the page that will make part of the strategic plan. So we have three categories. One is in progress, completed, and not started. So these are significant items that we want to make sure you know that we have completed, but also let you know which ones are in progress and what the status is. So for this one example is the customer service. We have been training staff with customer service and other trainings, but customer service is a very focused one. We have now just began very focused training program that we're gonna have our staff go through and we're gonna have as many as possible focusing on frontline staff and I'll just share with you kind of a statistic that in the past four years we've trained over 800 individuals with different types of trainings and we are continuing that pet goal we are the leading agency that trains with the offering of the JPIA trainings by far we're used as exam as an example to other cities So I'm very proud to say that all of our directors, our HR director, Karina Montes, I mean, they've been very instrumental in providing the time for employees to come and receive the training. Next page. This page is goal number four, and this is where we will focus on and make the most of the effort this next year. And while we haven't started the actual plan for each of these items, the objectives, we have made some progress in those. For example, we have elements of the projects that will become part of the master plan of each of the tasks. And so while the master plan hasn't started, we've started elements of it. And as an example, for the extreme action plan and for the environmental justice and environmental element of the general plan. What we have started is the solar panel project is now complete. We have been working on reducing the carbon footprint with LED lights and HVAC systems that are much more efficient, less energy used. So we have included some of those and this is primarily the update from the last meeting that we presented to you. Next slide. So council requested that the report still note that what actions had been undertaken. the goals not yet completed and so that why that's why I explained those pages so that it's understood that some are completed some are in process and some are still getting started however we've made some significant contributions to to those plans next slide So the goal would be to develop a city climate action plan, develop an environmental justice element for the city's general plan. And that's that is a huge undertaking. But we're we're preparing to to begin that that plan and then develop an extreme heat action plan. And so we will be bringing we will be bringing back individuals that will help us with with those specific plans that are experts in those in those fields.

Next slide.

We have identified the projects as part of those those plans, the bus stop equity plan. Those are going to be shaded bus stops throughout the city expansion of the battery electric bus fleet, which is expanding which reduces the carbon footprint. Install LED lights at city parks and streets. Our street lights are now LED, and we own the lights, so that reduces the carbon footprint. The installation of solar panels throughout the city. Not only do we reduce the energy use, but we also reduce the heat from the asphalt that the sun would otherwise be heating up the asphalt. And typically it's between 10 and 15 degrees hotter without shade. and then the cooling centers at the senior center and social services center they specifically the senior center will will be getting a generator backup generator so that we can continue to use that as a cooling center even if we don't have electricity available to us and then as you just experienced the urban forest management plan that also reduces heat in in throughout the city and then the use of compressed natural gas street sweepers and trash trucks so those are elements that are already in place that will become part of the those master plans. And so while we haven't began some of the plans for goal number four, we do have elements that will be part of it. So we recommend that you receive and file this report with a recommendation that some of these items become part of the next strategic plan and we are just gonna continue to work on them and bring back the resources so that we could complete these master plans. So this is a work plan that the city council provided us and we'll continue to work on them and we look forward to the next strategic plan session.

Thank you.

That concludes my presentation. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. I mentioned it last time. I know we kind of spoke about it two weeks ago. This is definitely a living, breathing document that the entire team uses to move forward at the directions and the goals of the council. So I would say go ahead and get working on scheduling that next strategic plan working session with Council so we can not only look at the items that were not completed or not started and then add some additional goals and objectives at the same time. With that, is Council good with receiving in file? All right. Thank you very much. Moving next to our public comment, our first speaker today is Kenny Valdiva. Please go ahead and step forward. And as a reminder, you have three minutes to speak.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Kenny Valdivia, and I am a resident of 10509 Borson Street. I am here today because our neighborhood is facing an ongoing public safety issue that continues to get worse. Our street has become a regular access point to the riverbed near the 105 freeway and the San Gabriel River, resulting in constant foot traffic from homeless individuals and people engaging in illegal drug activity. We regularly see people park their cars on a residential street and walk to and from the riverbed. We have also witnessed individuals getting out of vehicles while inhaling from balloons before heading towards the riverbed, as well as activity that appears to involve drug transactions. This has become an everyday occurrence.

Emphasis on everyday.

The problem has now extended onto our private property. We have had people walk onto our porch, tamper with our trees, try car door handles, and even defecate on our neighbor's lawn. Women in our neighborhood have also been harassed. As residents, we no longer feel safe walking outside or being home alone. These are not isolated incidents. They happen repeatedly and our neighbors have collected extensive photo and video evidence documenting the trespassing, suspicious activity, and the ongoing impact on our community. We are ready to provide this evidence to the city. We understand that homelessness is a complex issue and that many people need help. However, criminal behavior, trespassing, and harassment should not become the normal reality for the families living in our neighborhood. We are asking the city to move beyond temporary solutions and pursue a permanent one. Specifically, we ask the city to evaluate constructing a permanent brick wall or other secure barrier between the riverbed near the 105 freeway and San Gabriel River and our neighborhood to reduce unauthorized access. We also ask for continued enforcement and collaboration to restore safety for our residents. Finally, I want to recognize public safety. Rita and Jesse, they have consistently responded with professionalism, compassion, and genuine concern for our neighborhood. We are grateful for everything they have done and appreciate their continued support. We love our neighborhood and simply want to feel safe in our own homes again. We hope the city will partner with us to implement a lasting solution. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. It sounds like you've already been in contact with Rita. Rita, if we can just, you and I can follow up in our meeting tomorrow about some of the thoughts that we might have. Thank you so much for coming tonight. All right, moving our next speaker to public communications and public comment is Cynthia Clemente. Yeah, but Cynthia, we're gonna bring a mic up to you so that way it might be a little easier.

Good evening Mayor Perez and City Council members and everyone else who's here. I'm Cynthia Clemente, a disabled senior resident of Norwalk. My issue is with safety today. Yesterday afternoon at 3 o'clock a friend of mine took me for a birthday dinner, early dinner. So we went to Applebee's when all of a sudden a young man approached the window next to the table where we were sitting and he started to tell us awful things. He told us he's going to wait for us. And he was more angry at her than me. And we had to have three of the staff members of Applebee's escort us to the car because that's how bad it got. And that is at Patterson Square. She called public safety. They turned her over to the sheriff's station. Guess what? Sheriffs never showed up. Neither did public safety. Nobody came. So when they did call her, they apologized and they said they were busy. So today, this morning, I went to grocery outlet because I didn't have corn tortillas. I was at the cash register paying to leave when all of a sudden there comes a big man from I don't know where they were coming from. There was a worker following him with a gallon of milk in his hand. And he was cursing, using every kind of profanity he could think of, and he even punched the The worker, the employee in the chest, real hard, he just pushed him and punched him at the same time. He finally got the man outside. And when they were outside, I could hear him scuffling. But I had to leave because I had my dialer ride right. So when I walked out, he was punching the other man for no reason. And then when three other employees came out to help that one employee, he wanted to fight with all of them. So finally when the dialer ride pulled up, I told him to keep going because his Volvo SUV was parked right there where the dialer ride had to pick me and I told him to leave. So finally that man got in his car and he left. So as far as safety goes at Norwalk Square and There's no safety for us. For any residents, for any seniors shop mostly in the day. They go out to eat for lunch or dinners. Right now that summer is really nice. And, you know, I'd like to know if we can get any public safety people or, you know, or sheriffs cruising inside the parking lots because the security at norwalk square if he's in one side and something's happening on the other side he's not going to know until it's over you know and with this one man he was pretty violent and there's a lot of violence i'm seeing every day i go through this and you know i'd appreciate if you would thank you thank you cynthia rita can you touch base with cynthia tonight please

All right, our next speaker is Rafael.

Hello, I'm Rafael V. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Urban Forest And this especially to say that I highly encourage the prioritization of native and indigenous plants and trees. These trees include California Buckeye, Coast Live Oak, a personal favorite of mine, Box Elder, Kellyanne Cherry, the Toyon, and so on. Captain of Valencia mentioned that in Seoul, South Korea, in an area of Cheonggyecheon, they had visited and they had been impressed with what they saw. A thing to note, years back, they took a six-mile strip of a highway, freeway, Six miles, and they completely leveled it. They turned it into an oasis. It turned into a river, and they dotted it with native plants. Can you imagine that? For comparison, that's if we took the five freeway from Carmenita all the way to the boulevard and completely demolished it, all in favor of environmental stewardship and a care for the climate. Something like that seems almost impossible, but a culture, a culture, A government who truly cares about their people does things like that because they realize that environmental crisis is on our precipice. Unfortunately, we as a city can't stop the climate change that is coming for the whole planet. We can't stop these racketeering, the destruction of native lands, and these pipelines being built, and all these gases being emitted into our atmosphere. We can't do that. What we can do is prioritize what was here originally. Catherine Rios, reference of insurance and environmental action over traffic control, development, all these things, like filling potholes, because these are the things that we see and they fill our hearts with joy. They fill our hearts with something that is splendorous because it's what belongs here. It's a great weapon that we have against climate change. For now, I'd like to quote Hyacinthe Lassonne, a Catholic French priest and theologian named after a beautiful flower, the hyacinth, you might know, that is native to the Palestinian region. He spoke about the virtue of Christian stewards tending the land. He said, these trees which he plants and under whose shade he shall never sit, he loves them for themselves, for the sake of his children and his children's children. Indigenous groups in our land, in California, not our land, their land, were genocided, removed, Millions of people documented, gone, killed. What do they do? Not only do they remove them, they remove what is native, their trees, what was once California need grass, oak grass, all of these gone, replaced with lawns, horrific displays of capitalism. Just tend your lawn, ignore what was here. That's what corporations want us to do. What we should do is honor the land that we're on by prioritizing native indigenous plants. That's what I recommend. If you'd want to see what a native splendor is in our area, I recommend highly the Cerritos College New Plant Sanctuary. There you can see what true indigenous justice looks like. And that's just one part of it. There's so much more, but if this is something which you truly care about, native trees are the way to do it. Thank you.

Thank you. And our last in-person speaker is Paki. Paki?

You know, nobody know God, nobody. Christian, Muslim, Jewish, the Pope, they don't know nothing. Let me explain to you. Only two people who know God today. LDS, church, both the Mormons and the Polynesian. I mean, I already talk about this story, but I'll bring it some more. The Mayans say that their god, two gods from the creation, one of them called Alam, Alam. I have no idea what is it. But the Tongan is a Tongan name, god. Alo means son of God, or God the Son, because he's one of the two God. That's what it is. They don't know it. And then Aloha, Aloha mean, Alo means son of God, or God the Son, show up in Hawaii. That's what ha mean, Aloha. And you know, Christ, Christian following follow Christ. So shalom, shalom. They don't know shalom mean follower of God the Son. That's what it's really mean. And you know cahokia. The original name and the whole name is Kahoakiapua. Kahoakiapua, pua mean lay flowers. You know the lay flowers they put on you in Hawaii? They put it on your neck and say, aloha, aloha, aloha. What the hell is that? It mean children of Christ, like Christian and Christ. Alom and shalom. Welcome, welcome to the land of Hawaii. There are four witnesses there. Mayan, same, Jesus told them, the Mayan, after he show up, he was 33 years old when he died and he come back, and he told them, I'll be back. Mayan, Azek, and the rest of them, And someone in Tonga, we found them in Tonga. Nothing on the other side. Only there were people that they killed.

Thank you, Paki. Thank you. Teresa, do we have anybody wishing to speak on Zoom this evening?

We do have one speaker. It is Mr. Tindall.

Hello?

There he is. Brian, you have three minutes to speak.

Thank you. I just wanted to say in response to the urban forest master plan that you guys just put out, thank you to staff in the city for working on this. I know it's been a long time coming. One of the things I would point out in there is a large investment every year to plant these trees, but it will get us back to where we need to be to have 100% tree canopy. um if you look through the numbers each year the trees are going to get more expensive inflation is going to be a contributing factor as well so the sooner we can get ahead of this and increase our urban canopy the the longer these trees will be in the ground and the chance they'll have to get bigger and contribute to reduced heat island effect and improve our air quality and pollution and storm water drainage And I just like to echo as well as I have been over the last couple of years that native trees are a great addition to the forest. I did see them added in the updated master plan. And I would just hope to see them planted more frequently. And I'm excited to see this plan implemented in the future. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And with that, we will be closing tonight's meeting in memory of our friend and former elected for the city of Paramount, Ms. Lori Guillen. Thank you very much, everyone. This meeting is adjourned.