City Council - Regular Meeting

Yeah, really, really. Yeah, Jim just brought it up to me that maybe we ought to call the fire marshal. I'd like to point it out, a couple of people who were here when I got started, besides Jim, is Mr. Gary Ovett, our former mayor, and his wife Sue. And, next to him is a fabled, famous former chief, what's his name?

Lloyd Scharf. I can't go around the room. I'd just be adding up the years of everybody here. So, we're going to get started, okay? So, our first order of business, Madam City Clerk, is a roll call.

Thank

you. Sorry about that. Yes, mister mayor. The record will reflect that all members are present for the meeting this evening with the exception of mayor pro tem Wopener.

Okay. So before we move on, we need to know if we have a conflict of interest with anybody. No, no, no, no, no. Okay, good. We'll have our Pledge of Allegiance. We'll be with the honor guard and our invocation will be led by Chaplain Mark Ortiz. Making sure that's correct, last time it was, so Mark, are you here somewhere? Oh, there you are. Hi Mark. It's another guy who was here when I started.

Mark?

Before I begin, I just want to share something personal about Rudy here. I just wanna say it's an honor and a privilege to be able for me to deliver tonight's invocation. And I'm sure it's a special night for Rudy and his family and his parents. I find it to be a very special night for me as well. When Rudy first came on to this department, I was tasked with being his first phase training officer.

Rudy will share some horror stories with you about the time he spent with me in training and most of them would probably be true. Yeah. I'll say this, from the minute we started riding together, even though he was a trainee, all the way back in April 2002, I could tell that he was a natural when it came to law enforcement. I threw seven different kinds of smoke at him trying to break him and it was always a big smile and laughter from him like it was a game for him. But it was, he was truly committed to this profession.

And he would always address me with a big no sir or yes sir with a big smile on his face. And I think all of you have seen that smile at one time or another here. I have had the opportunity to watch his career flourish over the years before I retired here back in 2016. And I knew he was destined for good things. And so for him to be taking the oath tonight as chief of police, it comes as no surprise to me.

So with that, let's pray. Almighty God, I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to pray over this meeting tonight. I ask that you grant this counsel the wisdom to govern amid the conflicting interests of our times, Lord. May their decisions be guided by truth and led to the benefit of all citizens of the city of Ontario. We ask for a spirit of unity, one that would help us set aside personal agendas to work in harmony for the good of our city.

May the actions of our leadership reflect compassion and respect for all people. We celebrate the diversity of our community. May we recognize the distinctive gifts each person brings, and I would ask that we would work together to build bridges for a brighter future. Lord, I thank you for the honor and the privilege it has been to serve under the leadership of Chief Mike Lorenz for the past five years, and we wish him and his wife many blessings as move forward in the next chapter of their life together. And as the scepter of responsibility passes on to Chief Rudy Lopez, I ask that you instill continued wisdom, compassion, respect, humility, the desire for justice, and the heart of a servant as he takes on this task completing the Ontario Police Department.

And we ask for all these things in your name, Almighty God. Amen. Thank

you, Mark. You may be seated. So after we get finished with the ceremony, we'll have a little bit of a break, we'll come back in the regularly scheduled meeting. We do have some blue slips that are written. And I think now, later at the end.

Are you sure? Okay, I'll figure out a proper time. Okay, I see where it's here. Okay, so first of all, I'd just like to say that Chief Lopez is of let's start back the page where I should start. As you can see, we're starting with a special ceremony tonight and to administer the oath of office to our newly appointed Chief of Police, Rudy Lopez. Rudy, congratulations. Yeah, we're glad to have you here tonight. And we need you to come to the podium at this time. Sorry. I saw you go in and sit up. And he did what everybody did, all these us do. We look at our wives. Is this okay? That's what he did. I saw that.

So I want to share with you a little bit about our new police chief before we swear him in. Before we swear at him? No, before we swear him in. That's what it said. Chief Lopez began his professional career in law enforcement in 1998 with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

2002 is when he transitioned to the Ontario Police Department as a lateral patrol officer. He was promoted to corporal in 2008. He became a detective in 2010, a sergeant in 2014, lieutenant in 2017, captain in 2020, and appointed a deputy police chief in '24. A real serious trajectory all the way, if anything. So over that time, Chief Lopez has worked several details for Ontario Police Department, including the Special Operations Bureau, Gang Violence Suppression Unit, Field Officer Training Program, SWAT, Investigations, Intelligence, Narcotics, Internal Affairs, and the Airport Operations Division.

It's a lot. Chief Lopez is a firm believer in formal education and is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach and holds a Master of Science in Leadership and Management from the University of La Verne. I heard that he you went to school with Mark also to learn how to do all this stuff. He told us all about it. Yeah.

So, as you can see from his career journey, Chief Lopez has always demonstrated a strong commitment to public safety, professional excellence, and community partnership. On behalf of the City Council, I'd like to say that we are confident that under his leadership, our police department will continue to build trust, strengthen community relationships, and provide the highest level of service to our residents. But before we administer the oath of office, I'd like to pull up some of these blue cards. And if anybody else there's a limit to this, though. If anybody else would like to say something, that would be your opportunity to come and stand over here.

Maybe about five of you at the most. Can you imagine if everybody would want say something? We'd never leave. So, we have blue cards. We'll start with Ulysses Nara of Assembly Member Robert Garcia's office. There you go.

Hello counsel. It is a privilege to be here today. First, I want to introduce myself. I haven't been in your beautiful chambers before, so thank you for having me. My name is Ulysses.

I am here on behalf of Assembly Member Robert Garcia to celebrate Chief Rudy Lopez and we brought him a certificate. I'll award it to him shortly but I'll read it to you. So on behalf of California State Assembly and assembly member Robert Garcia, I'm honored to recognize Chief Rudy Lopez on the occasion of his swearing in as Chief of Police for Ontario Police Department. Your appointment reflects a distinguished career in public service and a commitment to protecting and uplifting the residents of Ontario. Through your vision and service, you help ensure Ontario remains safe for our community. Congratulations. So if you'll join me.

While they're getting a picture, our next speaker is Roxanna Garcia from Assembly Member Rodriguez's office.

Good afternoon. My name is Roxanna Gracian. I'm the district director for Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez. We are so happy to be here for the swearing in ceremony of our new chief, Rudy Lopez. Assembly member Rodriguez is a strong advocate for public safety.

So on her behalf, I am here to present the certificate which states that she is honored to recognize chief Rudy Lopez as he steps into his new role as chief of police for the Ontario Police Department. She wishes you success as you guide the department bringing strong leadership and a forward looking vision that reflects the values of public safety and partnership. Congratulations and best wishes to you as you continue to be our leader for the city and the and the residents of Ontario. So thank you so much.

As they're getting ready, we have also from oh, we'll skip that one and we'll just go straight to Mr. Jason Anderson. Hold on to your seats folks, this guy's funny. Not in court, but here he's funny. Our district attorney, Mr. Jason Anderson.

Thank you mayor, council members, city manager. It's two consecutive city council meetings. One more and I'm labeled a gadfly, I think, by you folks. Soon to come start complaining. How about that? Well, I'm not here to complain. I'm here to compliment the council, city manager, city staff as I did when Mike Lorenz retirement ceremony was in here. Obviously, it's a nod to the leadership of this city that you have a succession plan like you've had with the prior chiefs. I'll talk about Rudy in a second, in terms of the attributes that I've come to know and really admire over him. But I just think, obviously it's Rudy's night, it's his family's night, and you guys are gonna honor him tremendously.

But I think it's it's an opportunity for someone who understands, I think, succession and longevity. What it means for a city as stable as Ontario to place emphasis not only on public safety, which you do, but also on the succession of that public safety in an agency that's professional as the Ontario Police Department. So, kudos to you guys. Now, I'm thrilled that Rudy's coming in. The last two chiefs were a lot taller than me and I wasn't very good at basketball with those guys.

In fact, Derek Williams can tell you exactly how much I stunk up the court. With Rudy, I've got a little better shot. I will tell you that I first got to know Rudy way back in the day when he came over to Ontario, and we actually all camped as family members together in trailers and riding dirt bikes, and I saw Rudy try to set up his trailer. He had no idea what he was doing. None.

And he's come a long way. Just tremendous to watch him with his family and his kids. But I'll tell you, what I admire most about Rudy, and I think you can take this to the bank, is he's gonna be the same guy tonight after he's sworn in and he gets the stress of the job. And whenever his illustrious career is finished, he's gonna be the same Rudy Lopez that he was when I encountered him in 2002, which is a guy, unbelievably sharp, smart, professional, integral, hardworking guy. He never let me down in any of the cases we ever worked.

And the sign obviously, as you know, of integrity is when you see traits of a guy who were there at the very beginning before he was anybody and never thought he wanted to be anybody, and now he's the guy. You can bank on this guy and kudos to you, Rudy and congratulations to your family. It's awesome. Good job, buddy.

I was gonna have to give that guy one minute remaining. All right, well we have also Do we have the video ready from Susan Rubio? Our senator Susan Rubio wanted us wanted to be here personally. She actually called me and said, let's put this up. She can't be here.

Hello, everyone in the beautiful city of Ontario. I'm state senator Susan Rubio. I'm really saddened not to be able to be there as I'm mandated to be in Sacramento, but I wanted to take this moment to say congratulations, chief Lopez. I know this is monumental as you are the first Latino to ever lead the city of Ontario. It's very meaningful, and I know that you will serve us well. I'm looking forward to working collaboratively with you. And once again, congratulations. Congratulations.

Where's Jason Anderson? See, that's how you do it. You do it just like that. All right, okay, so it would, you know, this isn't a funeral, but I am asking, does anybody else have something that you'd like to Wow, don't run up. Yes, sir. You want to come up to the microphone, Kizzy, please?

I met the chief when he was captain. He took my concerns and that of my neighbors seriously. He addressed everything. Since I've known him, anytime I've called on him or we've spoken, he's followed through. He's always been a man of his word, man of integrity. We're honored and happy to have him here in Ontario as he rose to deputy chief and now chief. Congratulations.

City manager staff or council. Anybody have anything you'd like to add, Debbie?

Congratulations Ruby, Ruby, Rudy. I'm looking very forward to all this wonderful stuff that you're gonna help accomplish and help and continue on with all the wonderful technology that we've been building in the department. Just thank you for helping and doing that and we'll keep running down the road. So, congratulations.

Mr. Bowen.

You know, I too want to congratulate you, Rudy. You are the chief of the, as far as we're concerned, the best police department in the world. We appreciate what the good district attorney has said. He's right on. It's all about internal culture, preparing those to follow and maintaining a culture that no other community or police department has with other agencies within that community to work so smoothly and professionally. Congratulations. Welcome aboard. It's a big job, but you're the right man.

Daisy?

Yes, sir. Rudy, we're just so proud of you. I'm excited to work alongside with you. You're been a great person to work with,

so I'm looking forward to the many new things we're gonna bring

to our city. Thank you.

Rudy, this makes my third time saying great stuff about you so I'm going to just keep it real short. We're very happy to have you here in this position. I think Susan Rubio put it together pretty well too. All of the great opportunities and the first and all that other stuff. The great thing about this community as I like it when we don't really make a big deal about our ethnicity, but it is a big deal at the same time. And I think that like myself and like you, we don't make a big deal about this. But we're thankful that after all of these years in history, we're starting to see the leadership of this city, you know, being reflected by the people who live here. And so I'm thankful for you for the kind of person you are. It doesn't matter what ethnicity you are. It's the kind of person you are.

I think Jason put it that way put it together, too, is that, you know, you've shown history of being this really good person. And we need you to be the police chief at this time. In history, when policing has changed so much from the days when I started to today. It's just changed so much. We have to have the right people in right now, and it's the right time for you. So thank you. Thank you for everything you give to us. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Appreciate it.

So for the formal oath of office, I'd ask the Chief, you stay there at the podium, I'd like to invite a guest and mentor of yours, Keith Vaughn, to the podium to administer the oath of office. But it says here that, is that now when you give the badge to his wife? Is that now or later? Later? Now. Now. I saw Darlene. She said now. I said, okay, whatever.

So I would love to pin him as his wife because I do love him and I support him but I think this one belongs to his mother.

Okay, chief. Don't you just love it when your mom reminds you that, those days, in front of everybody? Oh, okay, so, let's hear it. Share some words with us.

So I gotta be honest with you. We're our family's from Compton, and we're represented here in the crowd tonight. And it's hard it's it's really hard to understand how someone that grew up in that environment is standing here in front of you talking to you. You know, they asked me if I if I wanted to have the procession coming into council, and I said, you know, I'm I'm not dead. Like, it's not a funeral.

But I always ask myself, and I think we all do, right? Who would show up to your funeral? And and I look around the room, and I made it about halfway through, and the people I have represented here from every corner of my life and every part of my career, and it's just it it's really it makes me very emotional to think about the support I have in this room and and where I wanna go with the leadership that you've granted me, and I I appreciate that. I'm very humbled by this opportunity you're giving me, mister mayor. To be this twenty second chief of the Ontario Police Department, it means a lot to me.

I understand the responsibility that it comes with and the commitment, and I hope over the time that I've been here with the city and in my life as reflected by some of the people that spoke, you can hear and know that I'm committed and I'm an honorable person that's going to take this position very seriously. I think reflecting back as meaningful of a moment as this is, both personally and professionally, I have a lot of people that I need to thank and that are in attendance. First off, my wife, Lupe. She's my rock. She's been with me for some time now, and she's got to go through some of the trials that come with this position.

And she knows what's to come. And she hesitates coming up here and doing this public stuff, but she does it for me. And that's just who she is as a person. My two boys, Christian and Yaseem, I hope that I can be an example for you guys moving forward and that you understand that education is important, hard work is important, and being a good person is important. To my mom, Helen, you know, she's so humble growing up, you know, in LA, but at our promotion party for the city, she was making everybody call her mom a chief.

I don't know what that means. Thank you, mom, for that humility. And my dad, growing up, Rudy, he he grew up in East LA, went to Garfield High Pop, lived by the original King Taco, and was my mentor from a young age to be a police officer because at the age of 26, I believe he became a police officer for the Marshals and then eventually worked for the West Covina Police Department, served an honorable thirty years there, and really set the bar for me on what I wanted to do with my career. The people that work with law enforcement professionals know it takes a lot of sacrifice to be here and a lot of late nights and missed holidays, and I appreciate that. And and nobody gets to this position without help, and I thank you guys for that.

To my mentors, former chiefs in the room, it I I can't believe that some of you guys came out. I appreciate that. It means a lot to me. Chief Sharpe actually hired me and and gave me my first shot with the Ontario Police Department when I was a young man, and I thank you. But in this room, there's other chiefs represented that have been mentors and really pushed me to be where I'm at today.

I can tell you that going back as far as the academy twenty six years ago, I have a friend named Hector Beltran that's here represented in the LA County Sheriff uniform. We were roommates together in the academy, and it just shows that longevity that you have in connection with people in this career, it means a lot. Going forward, there's been so many mentors. Keith Vollem, I didn't know he was going to do that. It meant a lot to me because he was one of the persons that saw me really early in my career and took me to coffee. And I wasn't sure why. It was kind of weird that an older guy was asking me to coffee, but I showed up. And what I didn't know at the time was he was actually interviewing me for gangs, a gang position. And he did it so subtly that the next thing I knew, I was working in gangs. And it was because of Keith.

And it seemed like every time I got somewhere or got in my next advancement, he had something to do with it somehow. And so I appreciate that a lot. Also, Paul Burdnick, who's a retired deputy chief, one of my best friends, he's really paved the way for me to be here as well. And I appreciate him being in the room and representing and supporting me. To the department, the officers, professional staff, dispatchers, volunteers, we can't do this without you.

And I promise your dedication is going to be recognized. I'm going do my best to put the right people in the right places and represent you well. I know that the long shifts, the missed holidays, everything that you're going to sacrifice to be here in this department, they mean a lot to me in the community. I also commit to continuing the wellness that Chief Lorenz has started. We're one of the few departments in the nation that hosts a week long wellness week where we bring our spouses in, and we get to actually sit and listen to critical incidents to cope with stuff at home so that we're successful not only at work but also at home.

We have counselors that staff office hours at our police department weekly, and officers can text and check-in and go to Starbucks and just talk to somebody to get stuff off their chest. We're really leading the edge in that, and I promise to continue that going. I also promise that I'm going to provide the best training and resources that are available in the industry. We have the support from the city, and I'm going to continue using that to make our officers safe and keep the community safe. I also know that the community partnerships that exist within the police department, I'm very proud of.

We have a lot of city leadership. Thank you, mister mayor and council members for the support you've given me over the years and the ability to do my job. But we also have faith leaders in schools and businesses and nonprofits that we're all part of, and we're part of the community because of that where we thrive. And I promise that I'm gonna continue that and make that a priority. Public safety really is a shared responsibility.

It's something that we're all responsible for, I'm going to do my part and make sure that the department members and the community understand that as well. My vision moving forward, I'm going to lead with integrity, I'm going to serve with humility, and I'm going to act with courage. Those things I'm going to commit also to innovation, honoring the tradition as well, but also pushing the department to the next level. And I'm going to emphasize unity within the department and the community as well. I'm going to make it very clear that the badge does not represent authority. It represents service. In closing, I'm ready to serve. Thank you for putting me here. I invite the community and the department to move forward together. Together, we're gonna continue building our department a community trust and our families are proud of.

And I'm pocho. I know I'm a little I'm the first Latino chief, but I will tell you that in Spanish, Thank you.

Rudy, also chief, we also have a pretty nice certificate from a special congressional recognition from our Congresswoman Norma Torres. So, with that, congratulations. And I'd like to take a little recess from all of this so you can have a photo op. And there's a small reception in the lobby after which we'll return and finish the business at hand this evening. We're going to take a recess for about ten minutes, fifteen minutes.

Thank you. Thank you. Well, back everybody and thank you for being with us in this meeting. And we're gonna go into public comments and we do have quite a few, so I'm gonna stick you very tight to the three minutes. When your three minutes is up, you'll be given a one minute remaining sound over there.

Sounds like

minute remaining.

Like that. It means you got and when I go like that, you have no minute remaining. Okay? So, in accordance with state law, remarks during public comments are to be limited within council's jurisdiction. All those wishing to speak, including council and staff, need to be recognized by the chair. Madam City Clerk, do we have any email records? Any comments for the record?

Yes, mister mayor. There are emailed comments that have been printed, placed at the dais, and will be entered into the record.

Okay. Thank you. Can somebody close the door out there? Thank you. Tom, I thought it was you. But then I said, that must be the door. I knew it wasn't Jim Hillheiser. Guy's quiet. Lock it. Okay, So, we'll begin our blue cards with Donna Littleton. Oh, of course. You know

first. Of course. Okay. Hello. I'm Donna Littleton Farris. I find this very ironic, really, Ontario Living magazine with baseball kids on the front of it when we don't have very many baseball parks for our children. I'm gonna start with the drop in conversations with, no offense, with the people who are here with the parks and recreation. Was it yesterday that we went to that? Yeah. The concept deal showing the splash park thing, but no other concepts were shown.

Just the splash park. And in a park with just little children to show the parents of, look how wonderful this will be for your children, and no other concepts about baseball or any of the other things that you have planned. I think that's just kind of biased. The other thing is, and I brought up to these people, have you ever checked out how many pedophiles are in this area that you wanna build a splash park for children at the ages of, like, basically two to 10 years of age. These are the children that will be using a splash park.

After that, kids aren't interested in a splash park. You're asking for nothing but trouble. You really are. You're asking for trouble. As a day care director, you're really asking for trouble. Parents don't pay enough attention to their children when they're at a splash park. They let them run and play. Pedophiles are ready to watch who's not paying attention to their child, and they go for them. They wait for them to go to a bathroom by themselves, and they're there for them. Believe me.

I know. So you need to put that into consideration when you're looking at these things. The other thing is I want to know it's too early I think to go One minute remaining. There's too early to go for a vote on these concepts. Also, I think you should if you're gonna replace a ballpark with a ballpark, there's only two little ballparks here. You've got the the Little League and a softball. That's it. These kids need ballparks to play. And if you don't wanna build the big you don't need a big ballpark for Jay Littleton. Go back to the 800 seat ballpark.

If not 800, go to two smaller ballparks for the kids. But the kids need baseball. You build it, they will come. Believe me, they will come. These kids need baseball. They need this activity. The other thing I wanna know is, why isn't this brought up for a vote for all the Ontario residents to vote on that they have a right to vote on this? It's not just for five councilmen to vote on. That's not fair. The city has a right to vote on this. That's all I have to say. Thank you for listening to me.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Tommy Mush again.

There's gonna be eight baseball diamonds for your little league at the new park down on South Side Of Riverside Drive despite the fact I'm still waiting for my university accessible playground equipment just like at the Park Of Dreams on South Bonney Beach Place in Union Pacific in East LA. So, I see councilman Wopner's not here But, I have a question why the the Ontario union, basically for the police and the fire unions to have the same political action committee. It's the same number. And in '21, they gave a Wopner about well, 4,700 from the police department and 14,700 from the fire union. Which, you know, it kinda like blurs your credibility.

I personally think you should contract with the sheriff's department, but, you know, who am I to speak of anything? And, another thing is Wapner got a campaign contribution of $2,500 from Jeff Perham and all the wonderful things he did for Upland with the colonies fiasco. And, I feel that, you know, that's very very bad. Oh, and then another $4,700 from the convention and visitors bureau. Oh, what is with you people? And you're bringing in more micro hotels, you know, right down Riverside and Ontario Avenue. I know it's a fight for water and you want to play in your sports, but you know, university assessable playground equipment. It's very annoying. And I just question your validity and all that. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Kizzy.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, city council. I had some issues I wanted to address, but individuals not here. I will say this to you guys that are up here. You shouldn't be miffed or upset by my comments when I come to speak.

This is an inalienable right that we have here in America. Just because I don't give positive comments to the city council all the time does not mean that I'm not supportive of you guys. I give positive comments to Ontario PD quite often because they show up and they prove. Not to say that you guys don't, but what I don't need is to be addressed outside of council chambers regarding how I speak, but we'll deal with that later. The Grove Plaza and the issue that we had with the homelessness in the Grove Corridor, the 60 Corridor, came to my attention because no one had anything to say or do about it.

It was left unchecked in my district, and that's why I'm here. That's why I brought residents with me, and that's why we supported the issue to get the gates, and ASM Rodriguez had that happen. Now we're dealing with the Jay Littleton Park, and that's something that's important to all of the residents. Miss Mesias, I know that you're not one for loyalty. We saw that with the mayor and we see that with mister Wapner.

And so you kinda jump. We're asking you not to jump on this issue. I don't like to throw loose or idle threats out there, But, ma'am, I say to you on behalf of the residents, we implore you to make sure we do what we can to keep that park, and we can do that on a budget. We don't need a $100,000,000 to do that. We need the people of Ontario to be heard and the people want the park there. That is your district and we implore you not to go after splash pads, not to go after apartments, not to go after anything other than a revitalization of that park so that the children

can One afford minute remaining.

We have several Major League Baseball players that came from this area and played at that park. We have a plethora of kids and we have travel leagues that want to play at that park and will play at that park. So I'm asking you please to listen to the residents, and I implore the other council members up here to please listen to those residents. But for 2026, when you come up for reelection, if that park's not there, ma'am, I'm gonna do everything to make sure you're not here. And I have the support of the city.

I have the support of your district. They're not happy with what's going on, and we're asking you politely to get it together. If you don't get it together, we will get behind Andrea Galvin. We'll get behind somebody else, but we will get you out of here in 2026. So please listen to us, and please do the will of the people and revitalize that park. May I ask miss Parada, miss Bowman, Wapner, if he was here, please support her and help that park stay here, and let it get put to a vote. If you guys are up in arms about it, let the people talk and let them be heard on it. Thank you.

Alright, our next speaker is

Mr. Mayor, if you will permit me just forty five seconds. Anybody has a right to come and criticize a member of the council or staff for actions or perceived inactions and the performance of our duties as public officials. There is a line and I don't think anybody's reached it yet but I want to be careful just to remind the mayor and the council and anybody who's listening that public comment is not to be used for campaigning in favor or against any candidate or any incumbent. And so, it's my job to make sure that that rule is made known and it's your and my job together to make sure that rule is enforced.

So I just wanted to just put that on the table soon because as someone has just mentioned there's an election coming up. The council meeting is to do the city's business not to campaign at all sir. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Karen Howie.

Thank you, Mayor Leon. Good evening, everyone. It's so nice to see you. I haven't been here for a while, so it's very nice to see you had such a crowd tonight. It was wonderful. I wanted to let you know that County Supervisor Kurt Hegman is hosting two events that are coming up, and they're really a good deal for residents of Ontario because it includes the residents from our 4th District, which includes Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario, and parts of Upland. The first one is coming up on, let's see, March 14. It is a Saturday. It's going to be held in Montclair, but any resident from the San Bernardino County can go to this. It's our next shredding event.

And it will be held at the Montclair City Hall from nine to twelve. And we like people to register only so we make sure we have enough trucks to with all the shredding that we get, and everybody's entitled to bring three standard sized boxes of shredding, and we will get that shredded. Some people do go home and get more and sneak back in line, but I won't tell you that. So our next shredding event will be in Ontario next month. We don't have I don't have the date yet, but it will be next month.

So I know I'll be here to announce that one too. On the other event that we're hosting on March 27 with the Chino Valley YMCA and the mission is a low cost spayed, neuter, and vaccine clinic. We just held one last month, and it was so successful. We're going to be doing a lot of these, and we're going to be doing them in different cities so that people can come to them. Spade neutering is only going to be $50 So it's open to only residents of Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario, and parts of Upland.

That's the 4th District, not all of San Bernardino. We do have a I do have a flyer We have for any remaining. Thank you. I have a flyer for both of these events outside just as you go out the door and there is a QR code on there that you can register. The registration goes fast because people wanna get their animals spayed.

So please get on there. For the vaccines, there are different vaccines you can get as rabies, Bordetella, you can get Microchip, and they're all $15, and that's really a good price. And so registration for this babe neutering begins on March 20. So get a flyer that's outside or go to Supervisor Wegman Wegman Wegman Wegman's website and you can check on there for any information that you need. But please get get signed up because we'd love to offer this to your residents and to yourselves. You each got a flyer. Thank you. Good evening.

Thank you, Karen. Our next speaker is Dale Roberts.

I want to thank the

city of Ontario for giving me so much stuff to talk about. On the twentieth, I was on Euclid Avenue going northbound. There was an officer in the number two lane, the middle lane between C And D Street. There was a telescopic boom lift operating there. The boom lift was crossways of Lane Number 3.

The officer kept right on going, didn't stop, nothing. The boom lift and the two people that was working there had no traffic control at all. No signage, nothing. All it needed was somebody in the number two lane to be in a box truck SUV in a little car behind it, and they decided to go into the number three lane to go around them, and they couldn't see that boom lift sitting there, you would have had a tragic, tragic accident here. And there was a man up in the boom lift, okay.

But it didn't, it should not have been on the street, period, without signings, okay, and traffic control. I did call, I think it was the planning department about it. The next thing I'd like to jump on is you had a dump truck pulling heavy equipment trailer behind it over here on Newkle Avenue when they was doing some construction work over here. And I called Public Works and the lady's name, I believe, start with an A, Aretha or something like that. I have a little bit of problem with my hearing.

But I just asked her to clarify her position and I believe it was deputy public works or something like that. Well, she didn't like me asking her to clarify who she was. So, she hung up on me. She wanted to know what truck it was, what trailer it was. My God, how many trailers do you have in the city of No,

no unit remaining.

Thank you. That hauls heavy equipment. Okay, real easy. If it was my company, I could find out that quick who it was. But once I called the city hall and they called them, Then she called me back in about fifteen minutes and told me that we had been dropped. We wasn't dropped. She actually hung up on me. Thank you very much. And I hope you all hear the next city council meeting because I have something that you won't want to believe and it pertains to the Ontario PD. It's a very serious mistake by now.

All right, our next speaker is Gary Littleton. Wonder what he wants to talk about.

Is it me? All right.

Thank you, counsel. Thank you, Mayor. Just representing here at Gunei, I guess you guys probably realize that by now. I do want to run a couple of comments past all of you just for consideration. One of the things I was looking at, I was studying the building of what there was a proposal of the building of the ballpark.

And some of the things that kind of caught me off guard a little bit is one is amount of people they thought were fitting in that ballpark before. So I kind of got out and connected some people that did our refurbishing of the ballpark some years back and got some statistics of how many of the bleachers would have filled and what they were measurement on and what the government regulation is by rebuilding a park with bleachers that you would need to leave 18 inches per person. It sounds like a small rear, but that's 18 inches where the state mandated. Taking that configuration and the length of the bleachers and what we figured out, the park at that time after removing the center field behind the plate seating that was there had taken the ballpark down to 800. Now the proposal is building it for 3,500.

The amount of parking spaces that we had originally were 150 existing ones around the Boy Scout field. So when I look at that proposal and I think, well, there's no reason if that's what it is, we're building a park to accommodate 800 people and maybe don't need, maybe just need five. But you wouldn't need to build a parking structure. I just think the proposal that was presented to all of us is really fabricated, is way out of line to where it would really be. And I would like to know if the council would be interested in having a third party look into what it would cost to rebuild the council for conversation.

And I'd like to see that if that's possible. The next thing I'd like to talk about real briefly and my sisters and I were out yesterday at Vineyard Park.

One minute remaining.

And Parks and Rec were out there. And by the way, your Parks and Rec people are just fantastic. That was one of my desires when I was in college at first to be a Park and Recreation Director because I used to be over at Montclair doing it for Angie Antonelli, right? Is that who it was at that time? And, you know, just like the old boys club, every summer that's what we would do, is work out there.

But I really grew an attraction to it and just helping the community and seeing what kids could do. And so I admired what they were out there. They were out there saying what the plans were, but the only thing I had a problem with is that all the presentation only consisted of one diagram and that was of the water splash park. I think it would only be fair if all four were presented or none were presented, just ideas were being gathered. That's all I got. All right guys, have a blessed week.

Thank you Gary. Our next speaker is Charlene Hardman.

Hi, good evening. Thank you for I your found out about this meeting at 01:30 today and I made a point to attend for a very strong reason. I see that there's women that are here. So I live on Parko in Ontario, Parko in Walnut, which is near the Grove Plaza. I'm a female. I'm a mother of two females. I have four grandchildren of which three of the grandchildren are females. And I can tell you when I first moved there in 2019, I was so excited. I loved the fact that Ontario was still a neighborhood family group. I loved that I was close to a freeway.

I loved that there was shopping and gas nearby, which I'm sure I'm not the only one who's busy. Right? You look for conveniences and things that you feel safe going to. I love that I was near the airport. I love that there were, like, little restaurants I could go to and not feel bad.

I love the fact that I could walk my grandkids around my neighborhood and walk them to get ice cream. So I know there is proposed to tear that down, and what makes me sad is when I first moved in that area, it was great. I mean, it was in decline, but it wasn't bad. Recently, I've had two situations that bother me. I went to CVS there, and when I was there, I had a homeless man follow me into the store.

I went right in to purchase something. He followed me, and he verbally was screaming and attacking me to the point where the manager who was at the register physically stepped in in front of me. And that was only at 06:30 at night, but it was dark. So then to the point where I didn't feel safe leaving there, and one of the other guys there had to escort me safely to my car. One minute remaining.

There are other females out there who I've seen felt similar, and that's why you see people shop there in the day and not at night. I would like for you guys to invest. I feel it's important that people have shopping near their homes. I don't wanna spend my money in Eastland. I don't want to go somewhere else to spend my money. I wanna spend it around my house because that's what you live in a neighborhood for, that neighborhood you live in. So I'd like you to take those thoughts into consideration because I think it's important as women we feel safe around our own neighborhoods. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Our last speaker is Marty McBride.

Sorry about that. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank you for your time. It's nice to be here again. I apologize for arriving late, but I did have some things that I wanted to share with you.

I have been to a couple of meetings regarding the Jay Littleton ball field. And most recently, yesterday, in fact, I attended the information session or the information drop in at Vineyard Park. It wasn't what I expected. I expected a place where the residents could come and share their thoughts about what they would like to see on the park, not just a presentation or a presentation board, a rendering of the city's proposal. Luckily though, I was able to speak with one of the representatives from Parks and Recreation.

He was quite informative and very helpful. And I met the executive director as well. She was really quiet but nice. One of the things that surprised me was he shared that the original general plan for improvement for Galvin Park, I can't remember the first name, John Galvin I think it is. The original general plan called for improvements to be made on the side west of Grove, not the side where the ballpark is located.

And so, you know, I certainly don't want to get him into trouble, but I will quote him anyway because I don't know his name. So hopefully this will keep him from getting into any kind of difficulty. He made an interesting statement that the fire at J. Littleton provided the city with an opportunity, with a convenient opportunity to move the improvements that were planned for the West Side One minute remaining. On the East Side where J.

Littleton Park is. And my question is, why would the city make that kind of a change when the general plan has already been approved And J. Littleton Park was the result of a fire which I would assume was part of an insurance claim on behalf of the city, and the monies received from that claim would be used directly to rebuild the park, the loss. Okay? I don't understand why there would be a change in the general plan because of a fire at a park.

This park is well loved. I've seen quite a few people talk about it, And I'd just like the city to reconsider the plans that they are making to do more than what the general plan originally called for. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Well, that takes us to agenda review and announcements. Mr. City Manager?

No changes,

sir. Okay. So that moves us into consent calendar, and we'll take up a consent calendar all at once. We don't have any blue slips to the consent calendar, right? No? Any emailed in? No? So I'll have a motion or discuss.

I don't mail to pass consent calendar. I'd like to comment and to revote.

Okay, so the motion to approve the consent calendar, second by Ms. Mesias. We'll go ahead and vote. So passes for, oh, with Mr. Watner gone, but you had one that you wanted to speak about?

Yeah, one of the items on the agenda is the Downtown Association's budget. I just again want to And Which

number is that?

That 13? No, is it 13? No, maybe it's 15. It is 15. Okay.

So and I just would like to make, you know, thank you to the Downtown Association. I attend their Thursday, their meetings and Ish is absolutely wonderful at convening and making everything happen to the police officers that are on patrol in the downtown area and keeping everything wonderful and all the business people trying to do their best. The Logan's candies just got repainted with new awnings and it's looking wonderful. So, I just am really happy that we did put this business together here with the tax income, the tax funding and it's just made a huge difference. Downtown is always clean, graffiti free and getting a handle on everything.

And so now with the new homeless shelter, we'll be able to make sure that those people that need the help can get the help and I'm just really excited for what's happening in the downtown.

Anybody else? Okay. Thank you. That brings us to public hearings. Item number 18.

Thank you. This is an introduction of an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Ontario, California, adding chapter 24, flavored tobacco, nitrous oxide to the title five public welfare morals and conduct of the Ontario municipal code prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco, nitrous oxide, and Kraton products within the city and finding the ordinance to be exempt from CEQA. Notice of public hearing has been duly given, and there are three letters of communications. Okay.

So I'll enter I'll open the public hearing and let the record reflect those written communications. There are no blue cards, so I'll close the public hearing and entertain a motion discussion from the council. Motion to approve by Questions. Okay. Ms. Mesias makes a motion, but you have questions.

Yeah, I don't, I'm not going to second until I have the questions.

Okay.

Okay, in regards to the email correspondences we received, several adults are making reference and I had known nothing about it, so I don't know if we have an expert in the room here that can help us understand. Plain leaf Kratom? What, you know, so some of these adults are taking this for pain relief And so I don't know enough about it to understand it. So do we have a subject matter expert in here that can talk to us about that?

Yes ma'am. We'll have Captain Ritchie address the council.

Before the captain gets up here, I'd like to just add some thought to this. So back in my early days, way back in the 90s when I was working for as a counselor for marriage and family and drugs and all that stuff for the county, One of the important things was secondhand smoke and tobacco use amongst kids and adding flavor to just tobacco back then. It was normally menthol flavored cigarettes were considered the kind of taste that would invite a kid to smoke. They also had, we got the ban in those days of selling candy cigarettes that looked like a cigarette. You know Gary, you used to smoke them.

The ones where you'd blow the little powder out at the end. You remember those, right? So, we got rid of all of that stuff with the state laws and there were still a lot more left that we could. As it's progressing, it got into vaping. Then vaping had all kinds of flavors.

All of those things were to get kids into the entry and smoking these types of candies, if you will, until they're hooked on the nicotine which transferred straight into smoking regular cigarettes. The other thing about menthol cigarettes were that they were oftentimes aimed at minorities. And that was also one thing that stuck out. They marketed them and aimed them at minorities for the smoking experience. So it made a lot of sense then and it makes a lot of sense now that we limit the use of these flavors to keep them out of the hands of children.

No, I agree with that, but that's not what that is.

Get it. You're asking about that specific one. Yes, sir. Captain.

Yes, sir. Thank you. So kratom is a synthetic opioid similar to heroin, morphine. The problem is it's very unregulated. So in that email, they refer to loose leaf, which is somewhat of an indication that it's unadulterated.

The issue is it is not regulated at all. And so we, as a nation, we have had numerous overdose deaths. LA County experienced a surge in a matter of a weekend on these overdose because they're so unregulated. There became a very popular product, seven O, and the opiate content of that product is 13 times greater than morphine. And so one of the issues is there are these pain relieving medicines out there, although many are pharmaceutical that you can get prescriptions for.

But a gas station selling it to completely uneducated children and young adults has led to very dire consequences. Numerous cities around us have enacted similar ordinances, most of them much stronger than what we're doing. We have a 2% concentration limit, so there still is the availability to get the product. But by dropping it below that threshold, it does become a little bit more regulated.

Very good. Okay. Well, you for the information. And then I'll second the motion.

The other thing about these flavored cigarette products or nicotine and tobacco products is that the second hand smoke, especially off of a normal cigarette, but even off of vaping, the secondhand, the expelling of it, is still dangerous to the person who's nearby. And many people have passed away from secondhand smoke when a person in the house smoked and they didn't. But because they're ingesting it actually through their mouth and through their nose, it was far more concentrated in giving people like, of all things bladder cancer and esophagus cancer and these kinds of things. And then it would be traced back to the fact that they're in a house where there's all the smoke going on. So there's this idea that vaping is safe.

And it isn't for the person who's nearby, but also the vape person actually gets a much heavier tar input into their lungs than they would from a normal cigarette. Although it's all very dangerous, vaping is the most dangerous of all. And if we're giving it to kids with the flavor added to it, it's like candy cigarettes again. So I think it's really important that we clamp down on all the loopholes of this. We've had a first from Ms. Mesias, second by Ms. Parada. We're ready to take the vote. Passes four-zero with the absence of Mr. Wapner. It takes us to staff matters.

Nothing to answer.

Alright. Council matters. Ms. Mesias? Mr. Bowman?

It's an observation and it's a personal opinion, one reporter's opinion as I typically say. From a standard of productivity and decorum amongst individuals, select individuals as we all consider ourselves and capable of making good, sound decisions amongst each other and disagreeing amongst each other as reasonable people do and should. I think on this particular issue of the park, it's large. It's emotional. There's a lot of feeling behind it.

I myself had spent time in that particular park, and I know John Littleton very well, one of the Littletons. I spent time with him in the park. Separate and apart from that, and that was much part of history, which history is part of the past, much of that can be recreated and generated. There are prices to everything we do in life. Some can be restored at a reasonable price and others by virtue of the fact it's unaffordable or the law in and of itself for the safety of those who might use that particular venue.

It can't be built because of earthquakes, codes, and what have you. So there's a match. There's a balance that has to take place, and that costs money. And it's my understanding that there's been a number of occasions for workshops to take place. In fact, I believe there's one coming up on Friday. Now this particular issue is the fourth week. It's come to us, and we've said the same thing each time. We're very receptive. We're willing to work with the community to come up with a balance. And whoever came up with a splash pad idea and that's all they want to push forgot about the swimming pool, forgot about the community center that was also part of it and everything else.

And that starved Mr. David Allen and how he put it out. Well, that started a bit of a panic. And to hear it come from internally here tonight. I think this needs to be work. There needs to be more work done on it, of course. But the balance is in the pudding and how it's done. It's not about threats. It's not about saying we're going to come after you. That isn't going to happen. I'll tell you the way it works. The worst talk we get like that, the tougher it's gonna be. I'm very receptive until somebody wants to make a threat about removing one of us because they may not get their way. That doesn't work in Ontario. We're here to service you, to serve with you.

And we have a big community, many serve with interests go to that park, many do not. But we have 170,000 people here that we represent collectively that pay their taxes. We try to balance our investments. We do it with feelings. We do it with responsibility. And that's the way we will handle this. Give us an opportunity. The workshops have just begun. Tell us what you want. But more than that, go to the workshops.

If you're not getting what you really need there, let us know. We understand that. We'll make sure that happens. But simply because it's not happening, don't come up with a heavy hand and say, by gosh, if we don't get our way, we're not going to be happy. Well, we're going to try to make it the best we can. We're gonna balance this. We're all here as adults. We've been here this, I'm a native. I was born in Upland Island, lived here all my life. I've been in the park.

I've been here a long time. We will make this work the best we can with a balance of money, responsibility, reasonable responsibility, and an appreciation for the past and how we can expand that memory into something larger that can service in a greater venue as that particular site of the city is served to its maximum, which would include everybody, not just the park, but everybody would benefit from something united in that park. We appreciate your thoughts and we're always with you. But it's not about just that particular venue. It's about how can we provide that in the best affordable way we can and get a reasonable reflection of the past with affordability and still have money left to be able to put other needs that are foreseen in that area, whether it's community centers or whatever, but to simply focus on a splash pad is irresponsible.

Thank you.

Deb. Today,

was lucky enough to head over to our wonderful Museum of History and Art where our museum had partnered with Mariposa Elementary School and a fabulous show of art in grades kindergarten through six. And so, did select, there was a volunteer panel that selected some of the artists and they received their awards today. But I also wanted to mention one of our museum commissioners, Chris King, gave a very generous award of $5,000 to this effort because this was our pilot effort for this project and so this will be an ongoing partnership between Mariposa Elementary School and the City Museum where every year now we will be asking the kids to draw us these fantastic pictures. We put them up in the Carlton Gallery so that they can come with their families and friends and see their art displayed in our wonderful accredited museum. So, that was really a fun thing to have and I thank you to Chris King for making that donation to have this, have these children receive this little extra cash here for their rewards and for their efforts.

And I just want to remind everybody too that the Heritage is having their golf tournament on March 13. So, if you like golf and like to participate, please let them know. And that's all I have.

All right. So, this is really important. This one with the ARC and the county, the spay and neuter and vaccine clinic. It's important to get your animals vaccinated, of course. And we see these lines even if you go to the West End animal over here on Mission, where they're lined up all day long on a Tuesday when they do it for low cost.

Well, this is really very low cost, But it's really important that we get our animals spayed and neutered. That's the beginning of stopping the overpopulation that really gets us. And you just get one or two and it eliminates 15 in a year. A cat for instance can have five to six in a litter or more, usually around five. And they can do that three times a year. And that's overpopulating just your house if they're there in one year. So this is really important ten a. To two p. M. And this is going be at the Chino Valley YMCA.

But we're going to keep bringing this here because we have the animal resource centers here in town. We'll be doing this stuff here. And we have vouchers for all this stuff too. Then for the police who's here from over here. I happened to be down at Archibald's restaurant.

And somebody come up and I don't know if they recognized me or somebody just ratted me out for being there, whatever. So I'm there and this person comes up and says have you tried to make a, if you're heading west out of the neighborhood there on Archibald across from the police station, so if you go east there's a Baker's and there's a gas station. They're saying when they come out of that neighborhood that this way, straight ahead and you have the entry to the police parking lot, that people heading east cut them off all the time. And that is very dangerous. They're terrified to even make a right hand turn coming west.

Are you familiar with what street I'm talking about? And I don't know if we have to change the light to make it safer or something. But they're saying it's like, I said, well how many accidents do you see there? And they didn't know, of course it's a lot. What does that mean? I don't know if our records show that. So I think we should look into that intersection there, find out if there's any real truth to that. And then getting back into the real fast here, the Jane Littleton issue. I think it's great that the community is coming forward. I want them all to come forward.

Let's have a good talk and really talk it out. What plan works for the people and what plan doesn't. But at the same time, people got to understand they think that we print money like the federal government and we don't. Every dime that we spend we have to earn. And if for instance with this field, if the insurance gives us a lot of grief and they're not giving us anywhere near what it would cost to do a reasonable rebuild of some sort, we all know we can't put that up the way it was.

It's not even legal the way it was, you know, without the ADA and everything else that has to go into a structure today. It just puts it up millions beyond what it would cost just to build the wooden structure that we saw. We all have our heartstrings all tugging about it and what we're going to do. We have to do something reasonable, but we also want to, I want to hear what the people have to say. I want to make sure that people have the opportunity to say it, and that the city council is listening.

I want to remind everybody that we are a representative form of government. And that is that we were elected, five of us, to speak for the people. That's the way the American government works. And so when I say that I'm for this, I believe that there's a certain amount of people in this city that have elected me to speak for them. But I will say this, until I hear what everybody wants to do with that field, I haven't come to a conclusion yet because I wanna make sure that it's what's best for everybody.

So with all that being said, and I want to thank you for coming tonight and participating in our meeting. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, March 17. And at this point, we are adjourned. Thank you for coming.