City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, so welcome everybody to a meeting of the Ontario City Council. First order of business is a roll call, Madam City Clerk.

The record will reflect that all members are present with the exception of Ms. Parada.

There she is.

The council is complete.

Okay, so I'll call on our city attorney to announce a closed session. Items?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. You've got two items on your closed session agenda this afternoon. The first is a conference with your labor negotiator, Mr. Ochoa, or his designee, with respect to the bargaining units, the Association of Ontario Management Employees, AOME, and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 3061. Second is a real property negotiation for the property. The property is listed on the agenda, generally located at the southwest corner of Bonview Avenue and Eucalyptus Avenue. The city's designated negotiator is Mr. Ochoa or his designee. The party on the other side is the county of San Bernardino and under negotiation as allowed by the Brown Act or price in terms of payment. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

All right, so... Is there any conflicts of interest for the evening? All right, we'll see none. We'll go ahead and we'll recess closed session and we'll be back approximately 6.30.

You are now live in the meeting. You are now live in the meeting.

I think they muted me. Yeah. OK, perfect. Thank you.

All right, so good evening, everybody. Welcome to the meeting of the Ontario City Council. And thank you for being patient with us. Our tonight our Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Councilmember Macias. And our invocation will be led by Pastor Robert Rocha from Bowes Church.

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

Good evening, on behalf of our community, I just wanna begin by expressing my sincere gratitude to all the city council members and our staff for the opportunity to offer this invocation. Thank you for your leadership, your dedication, and your willingness to serve the city of Ontario. We recognize that public service is both an honor and a great responsibility, and we are grateful for your commitment to our city. So let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today with grateful hearts, thanking you for the blessing of this city and the privilege of living and serving in this community. Thank you for the city of Ontario, for its families, businesses, schools, and first responders, and every person who calls this city home. Your word declares in James 1 5, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God and it will be given to him. Lord, today we ask for that wisdom to rest upon every elected official, every city leader in this room. Grant them discernment beyond human understanding. courage to do what is right, and hearts that seek justice, unity, and the common good. We pray for your hand of protection over Ontario. Bless our neighborhoods with peace, our schools with hope, our businesses with opportunity, and our families with strength. Watch over our police officers, firefighters, healthcare workers, educators, and all who faithfully serve our community each day. Your word says in Psalms 33, 12, blessed is the nation whose God is Lord. So we humbly ask for your continued favor upon our city. May we be a community that values compassion, pursues justice, and seeks the welfare of one another. Guide these leaders as they carry the weight and responsibility entrusted to them. May they lead with wisdom, serve with humility, and always remember that true leadership is found in serving others. We thank you for hearing our prayer, and we ask your blessing over this meeting and upon the city of Ontario. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. All right. Well, thank you.

I'll turn over to our city attorney for a closed session report.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good afternoon. This afternoon, the council met in closed session to consider both items listed on their closed session agenda. They received a briefing from staff and provided direction, but there is no reportable action this evening. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

All right, so we'll begin the evening with public comments. And the rules are always that we're limited to three minutes. Speakers will be alerted when you have one minute remaining. In accordance with state law, remarks during public comment are to be limited to subjects within council's jurisdiction. Remarks on other agenda items will be limited to those items. All those wishing to speak, including council and staff, need to be recognized by the chair, that's myself. Madam City Clerk, do we have any emailed public comments for the record?

Yes, Mr. Mayor, you have emailed comments that have been printed, placed at the dais, and will be entered into the record.

All right, thank you. We do not have any pink slips this evening? Okay, thank you. So, here we go. Our first speaker is Mr. Chris Robles.

I see your smile, Mr. Mayor. Yes, Mr. Mayor, city council members, I am proud to announce that the Southern California Agricultural Land Foundation entered into the parade with a float completely unique and depicted basically what you see on this shirt. We brought a traditional label, crate label to life with children of Ontario depicted on it. And Farmer Randy, who should be coming up here, and all the others who walked with us, drove his tractor towing a 100-year-old trailer, handmade out of wood, that had been in a family here in Ontario for generations. And they donated it to our foundation. And it has wood spokes, which you don't see anymore. And surprisingly, we turned around and we won first place. We won the, what was the name of it? The Sweet Steaks Award. And we were so proud and very happy. So I want to thank the staff for the excellent job they did in putting the logistics of that thing together. It's crazy. I could see it. It was the first time I actually participated in a parade like that. I want to thank Farmer Randy and Tina and everybody else who came out to support. We all wore these shirts. And we're pushing our idea of we can coexist farmland and urbanization. And if anybody wants to see a picture of the actual float, it's on GrowOntario.org. GrowOntario.org. So thank you. All right, thank you. We're so proud.

Tina might as well stay there. You're next.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council. I'm respectfully, excuse me, sorry. We respectfully acknowledge that the City of Ontario is located on the ancestral land of and unceded lands of the Tongva peoples. We honor their enduring stewardship of this land and pay our respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. I'm here once again because our community continues to live in fear. Since our last meeting on June 16th, immigration enforcement operations have continued throughout our neighborhoods. On June 24th, three to four people were taken near Nocta Street and Virginia Avenue and Nocta and Allen Avenue. Then between June 27th and June 28th, our region experienced another wave of enforcement activity. Community volunteers documented more than 20 people taken across the Inland Empire. Here in Ontario, three people were taken near Virginia Avenue and 6th Street. Another person was taken near Virginia Avenue and Nocta Street. and a gardener working on el morado court was detained before later being released on june 29th another man was stopped while waiting at the bus stop on holt in front of the social security office just trying to go to work he was detained by ice agents and then ultimately was released he said to me i'm just trying to go to work Once again, we're seeing agents target people based on their appearance and perceived ethnicity, creating fear throughout our community. Families are afraid to go to work. Parents are afraid they will not come home. Children are afraid they will be separated from their families. This is the reality. Many of our neighbors are living every single day. I've heard from some of our elected officials that there's nothing the city can do respectfully. That is not true. There are actions this council can take. You can ban ICE from staging on city property. You can establish an immigrant defense fund to provide resources and support families impacted by these actions. You can make it clear that Ontario values all of its residents and that no one should have to live in fear simply because of where they were born or what they look like. So I have to ask, are you getting tired of hearing these updates every time I come up here? Because I'm tired of giving them. We are not coming here because we want to repeat these stories. We are coming here because these are our neighbors, our coworkers, and our friends. Until these incidents stop, we will continue to show up Document what is happening and ask our elected leaders to act. Silence is a choice. Doing nothing is a choice, but leadership is also a choice. I urge this council to use the authority you have and take meaningful steps to protect and trust the safety of every member of our community. Thank you.

All right. Our next speaker is Dale Roberts.

Good evening. As long as we have an Ontario PD, I will have ample stuff to talk about. And I mean ample stuff. I got a lot of stuff I haven't even touched on yet. You have no idea the criminality in your department. And you obviously don't care, OK, because there's no feedback on anything anybody says, OK? Last month, in front of the Ontario police headquarters on Archibald, I was threatened with my life, and I don't say that lightly. If I would have had a firearm with me, he would be a dead cop or ex-cop, whichever the case is, because I know that he was in law enforcement. He threatened to F up my head and break both my legs, said that he had the authority and the ability to do it. Little does he know that I thrive on big people. And if he only talked to Wendell Price from Red Hill Barbecue, he'd find out that your height does not scare me. But for another reason, I feared for my life. And I can't tell you what that reason is, because it would definitely interfere with my life and safety. I walked out from just walking in. I was going to go in there and take a couple pictures. And these two gentlemen were walking out. And so I end up turning around, and I'm walking out. I go to walk across the grass median out there. And this little car is parked there. So as you see, I use a cane. There's a reason for it. And so this individual that threatened me, big bald-headed guy, he started to back up. I was going to walk behind the car. He started backing up. He's looking at his phone. So I get back up on the curb so I don't get hit. So then I try to go forward, and he's looking at his phone again. And he goes forward. I said, please watch your car, not the phone. Well, he proceeded to get hit. jump out of his car and come after me. And he yelled, you effing old man. I didn't know he was talking to me because I didn't know if there was other people in the yard. All of a sudden, I heard the footsteps behind me. And I knew he was coming after me. So I turned around. And he came right up and got in my face. And that's when he threatened me. I went in about 30 minutes later and tried to file a police report. And the cop told me, there is no crime. There is a crime there. If I would have said it to that cop, take off your gun badge, lay it down, and come outside, we'll see who's the baddest, OK, he would have arrested me. Thank you very much.

All right. Thank you. Our next speaker is Randy Beckendam.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm Randy Beckendam. I feel compelled to keep talking on this issue of saving our farmland because we keep hearing statements that I feel are either incorrect or leave out the whole truth. For example, we hear that the day of the dairies is past. That's a true statement. The dairies came in in the 50s and 60s. They were thriving in the 70s and 80s, but their time has passed. But I want to remind the council that before the dairies came in, all that land down there was cropland. This historic trailer that we pulled in the parade comes from that era. And it was in storage on property that had been used for crops. Amy's Farm. was originally a potato farm. So now that the dairy era is past, we can go back to crops, especially with the highlight on regenerative farming. And all that land could be used for regenerative farming, could coexist just fine with whatever development There's no conflict, and so just for the record, we believe strongly in preserving the farmland, thanks.

All right, thank you. Our next speaker is Tommy Mushigan.

Need to stop developing. I mean, how much is enough? Los Angeles has got plenty of logistics or whatnot. That's all out there. The ports are out there. There's no necessity for that. If it wasn't necessary, that silly, dirty rest stop would be open there on the 10th freeway. We all know what happened there, don't we? It's not a logistics area. And you need to calm down. Remember when you got charged with the DUI for the hit and run? Mr. Bowman, remember that? What happened with that? Well, we don't talk about that part. Or how Councilman Wapner here has his own consulting firm. I've seen it on your 700 forms. You don't want to pay yourself for consulting. Come on, really? What does that mean? We're not stupid people. And Mayor, can we see your birth certificate? I'd like to know if you've ever changed your name or the last time you were arrested, you were smirking. Can we see it to see where you're from? On the city's website, you claim you're from Ojai. Well, where were you born? What county? What state? Oh, okay, no big deal. So, according to the Ontario Municipal Code, when you annex us in the south end of town, so section 6-1, 302 subsection 8, identifies that area as an agriculture zone. So that's A1. You should leave it alone.

It's like a useless fight with you people.

All you want to do is build. It's like you need a religion to build, or you just worship the developers. You really do. And... I don't know what else to say. I'm sickened. But the real reason I came here today was, according to the Ontario City Municipal Code, Section 6-3.106, under definitions, subsection D is the blue container for recycling. Right, city manager from Glendale with the four rubbish hauling firms in that area, you know, the four districts. Come on, don't BS a BSer. Now, the double O is the green container for the green waste. Now, one minute remaining.

One minute remaining.

Fantastic. That's not funny. They don't do that at the county. They don't do that in other cities. It's not funny at all. You should take your Civil survey elected positions a little more seriously. I'm not a stupid person. You love your campaign contributions, don't you? You love it from those developers. That's all you want. They just build and get out of town, right? It's carpetbagging. A lot of you double dip, too. So in that subsection, double L is the gray container. I asked the driver this morning, where's the gray containers? I haven't seen them. Can somebody give me a definition? Anybody here from solid waste? What's the gray container for? Are you going to go out and go get new bids on the, get rid of the black ones, get new gray ones? Is that what's going to happen?

Our next speaker is Joe Lystra.

Hi, a couple months ago during one of our marathon sessions regarding Jay Littleton, I mentioned the issue with the lights at the Scout House and that could be a safety concern because of all the traffic that cuts through that lot. I'm happy to report that during the week of June 5th, Public Works came out, installed new parking lot lights. They work great. We came back. from an outing incredibly late at night and the lights were still working. So on behalf of the Scout leaders and the youth that use the Scout House, I'd like to give a thanks to the Ontario Public Works. I know that you normally don't get this during an open forum, but I just wanted to say thank you and the youth appreciate it.

All right, well, that ends our public comment portion of the meeting. And so I'll ask our city manager if you have any updated materials or correspondence.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, members of city council, at each of your seats is an updated copy of the exhibits of the resolution being circulated under agenda item number four. The update reflects any payments received for property owners up to 9 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7th, 2026. This updated material reflects a revised and reduced amount for assessments now totaling $450,186.42 related to 544 parcels, which means that $99,305.73 for 300 parcels was collected, postponed, or settled since the public agenda was prepared. The updated materials provided will be incorporated into the public record as the consent calendar is taken up by the City Council. That's all, sir.

All right, thank you. That takes us to consent calendar. And all matters listed under the consent calendar will be enacted by one motion with no separate, well, excuse me, there will be no separate discussion on these items unless a member of the council requests an item to be removed from the consent calendar for a separate vote. We do have blue cards to the consent calendar. So as a reminder, consent calendar is two minutes to speak. and so uh madam city clerk uh do we have any email to this okay thank you so uh i'll call on first speaker to the consent calendar is mr robles speaking on items 9 and 14.

Or is it nine through 14? Nine through 14. Okay. Yes. And to save a little time, since I only have two minutes, I have submitted a detailed written letter for inclusion into the administrative record regarding items 13 and 14, which I respectfully ask that the council table at this time, but I also wanted to address the other items on the consent calendar. And tonight the council is being asked to approve at least two and a half million dollars in additional spending before even considering the financial value of multiple development impact free credit agreements. That includes nearly $600,000 in additional consultant contracts to Grand Park or for Grand Park and nearly $1.9 million for the sports complex. In addition, you're being asked to approve development impact fee credit agreements for Prologis and the South Ontario Logistics Centre. That's continuing the infrastructure and supports future business and logistics development. So tonight you're not just approving contracts, you're approving the continued build-out of Ontario's long-term development strategy, and every item appears reasonable on its own, but together they represent millions of dollars in public commitments and long-term planning decisions. Spending and policy decisions of this magnitude deserve individual staff presentations, public discussion, and council deliberation, not approval through just one vote on a consent calendar. My written comments explain why items 13 and 14 should be continued, and I respectfully ask that these major consent items also receive the level of public discussion they deserve before additional public commitments are approved. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Robles.

Our next speaker is Randy Beckendam, items 13 and 14.

Good evening again. I too am requesting items 13 and 14 be tabled. The city's land use policies in South Ontario are deeply flawed. They do not constitute a course of wisdom. It's not wise to continue to insulate yourself from what the public wants and doesn't want. It's not wise to keep approving projects that by your admission have unavoidable and significant consequences. It's not wise to keep adding to the truck traffic. And I think it's very important that we have further discussion, especially on those If there's not a course correction, I think you're headed for a political shipwreck and the lighthouse is warning.

All right, our next speaker is Karen May.

Good evening, Council and friends. My name is Karen May. I'm a local resident, just live a few blocks away, and I respectfully ask you to continue items 13 and 14. These are not routine planning decisions. Together they establish the framework for future development across a significant part of Ontario. The average resident cannot reasonably understand the cumulative impact of these decisions when they are spread across multiple meetings and technical documents. Meaningful public participation requires more than the minimal legal process. Once these development entitlements are granted, they are extremely difficult to reverse. Please slow down, provide more public engagement, and make sure these decisions truly reflect Ontario's long-term interests before moving forward. I just want to echo what Randy, Farmer Randy, has said. I think that You all know how the public feels about this. There's a lot of consensus in the community and we really feel that we're not being listened to. I really want to lift up the planning commission that voted to delay one of the discussions on the business park and reconsidering further warehouse development. let's have a town hall. Let's get together. And I do want to encourage everybody to go to growontario.org and see what our award-winning, grand prize-winning float in the 4th of July parade was all about. growontario.org. Thank you so much.

All right. Our next speaker is Tommy Mush again.

We're doing their fireworks show on 4th of July. I got a kick out of a boat, Valencia, flying around South Ontario. I got a kick out of that one. I know you guys are still dealing with him and IUA, but you're all friends of friends anyhow. So when you've got control of Ontario Airport, we all know who sits on the board, don't we? for the Ontario International Airport Authority.

Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry to interrupt. Mr. Mushingan, if you could stop the time. I just want to double check to ensure that you're addressing items on the consent calendar, sir. This is a time for consent calendar comment.

Oh, excuse me, boss. I'll just go to 11. Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Jeez, your tax dollars at work. Now, I'm against 11. You're destroying South Ontario. You're pushing it from the airport north to eucalyptus. It's not necessary. You should leave it. Agriculture, I don't throw it for logistics. It's a faceless corporation. If you don't want to build logistics, I'm going to go somewhere else. I'm not going to lose out on the land anyway. It's so many. Yeah, you think it's funny. You think it's funny destroying our agricultural past, don't you? What are you denying it for? You sicken me. I can't believe you're doing this. I've seen this urban sprawl nonsense before. My grandparents saw it. My father saw it. Now I've got to get put through it. Can't you just leave well enough alone? No. You need your water, your riparian rights so you can have your fire department and build more nonsense. It's disgusting. First of all, there's going to be no more land because God does not make any more land. So no more on 11. You got rid of the railroad right-of-ways off of Belmont going down Grove. But as soon as you get ahold of the airport, subdivide the east side of Haven, there's going to be more truck traffic than anything. Chino has a hard enough time enforcing commercial enforcement on Euclid, but I don't see the CHP around here at all, or Ontario's commercial enforcement. So scabs one of those Amazon trailers through the even past bit inspection. You see the junk in the room. Pointless.

Okay. So thank you. So I'll entertain a motion or discussion from council. Okay, motion approved by Parada, second by Bowman. We'll take an electronic vote. Okay, consent calendar passes five. Oh, that takes us to item number 15, Madam City Clerk. in our public hearings?

Yes, this is a public hearing to consider adopting a resolution approving a mitigated negative declaration in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, and adopting a related mitigation monitoring and reporting program for the Euclid Avenue Recycled Water System project and approving the project and also awarding construction contract to All Cities Engineering Inc., a professional services agreement with Ardura Group Inc., and amendments to the Professional Services Agreements with AKM Consulting Engineers Inc. and Smith Emery Laboratories Inc. for the Euclid Avenue Recycled Water Systems Project. Notice of public hearing has been given. Affidavits of compliance are on file and there are no written communications.

Okay, well, thank you. I'll open the public hearing and let the record reflect any written comments. So we do have one speaker, Mr. Robles.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, City Council. My name is Chris Robles. So I do want to say that I am in support of recycled water and the infrastructure for it. Conserving an estimated 25 million gallons of portable water annually is good public policy, but I'm concerned about the accountability and public expansion. This item asks the council to approve a mitigated negative declaration adopt a mitigated monitoring program and adopt the project, award a construction contract, approve a professional services agreement, amend multiple consultant agreements and reject a bid protest. All of that in this one item. The construction contract alone is about 11.78 million plus little feedback, plus 15% contingency of approximately 1.77 million for a total construction authorization of 13.55 million. Additional engineering inspection and testing agreements bring the total commitment even higher. So first, I have questions. Why a mitigated negative declaration is appropriate rather than the full environmental impact report. Second, how the 15% contingency was calculated and what happens with unused funds. And then third, how the city selected the consultants and the contractor, especially given that the agenda includes a rejection of a bid protest. I'm not asking you to reject the project, I'm simply asking you to explain fully to the public. Before you were proven, transparency builds confidence, especially on projects this large. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. I will now close the public hearing and entertain a motion or discussion from council. Move the item. Moved by Mr. Bowman, second by Ms. Macias. We'll take a vote. Item passes 5-0, and thank you. That takes us to item number 16, Madam City Clerk.

This is a resolution declaring city-owned property located at 801 South Mountain Avenue, Assessor's Parcel Number 1011-382-09 and 1015 West Mission Boulevard, Assessor's Parcel Number 1011-29. I'm sorry, 382-65 as exempt from surface land for affordable housing development. Notice of public hearing has been given, affidavits of compliance are on file, and there are no written communications on this item.

All right, thank you. So I'll open the public hearing and let the record reflect that there are no written comments. And so there are no blue slips to this, so I'll close the public hearing and I'll entertain a motion from the council. Motion to approve by Ms. Parada, second by Mr. Bowman. Take the vote. All right, passes 5-0. We have administrative report, item number 17, Madam City Clerk.

Thank you, this is an amendment to section 4-21-05A, administrative fines of the Ontario Municipal Code pertaining to the managing the city's response to fireworks and fines and fees. There are no written communications on this item.

Okay, so I'll entertain a motion or discussion. Anybody have anything to say? Take a motion. Okay, motion approved by Ms. Parada. Second by Mr. Boma. We'll take the vote. Item passes 5-0. Thank you. Moves assist staff matters. Mr. City Manager? Nothing to that, sir. We'll go to council matters. Ms. Macias? Yes.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to say what a lovely time we had at our parade this past couple of days. I want to give a big shout out to city staff. It's such a thankless job and it was very nice to see all the committee members there. I also wanted to remind our community that my church is hosting a back-to-school drive on August 1st from 9 to 12. It's on the corner of Hull and Vine. So I'll be happy to see you guys there, and me and my colleagues will be there as well. So thank you.

Mr. Bowman. Yes, well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank our staff for a wonderful activity, the Fourth of July, and the parade and the fireworks, and congratulate our audience for a wonderful trophy they've won, and good work.

Thank you. Ms. Watner. Nothing. Ms. Parada.

i'd like to remind everybody that neighborhood night out is coming up here on august the 4th and they're taking applications for your neighborhood until july the 15th so you still have a little bit of time yet to rally your neighbors and submit the application so that you can get some people from the different departments to come out to your neighborhood and talk to you about the city. You can even request one of your city council members to come out and talk to you about what's going on in the city. So hopefully we get a lot more neighborhoods having parties, so thank you.

I just wanted to put a question to our city manager and staff. We have predictions of the weather being in the triple digits for the next few days. And are we prepared by having open facilities and water and things that are available to people?

Yes, sir. We'll do all of the outreach for our cooling stations and the criteria by which they will be opened and the amenities provided, I believe, tonight or tomorrow morning.

How can people find out? Where will they go?

It'll be right on the front page of the website.

Okay. And then I'll just join my colleagues in saying how awesome it was to have the Fourth of July parade. I don't think I've ever seen that many people. I thought that our holiday parade was jam-packed. This was jam-packed. I never really saw the crowd lessening. I lost my voice. It's not completely back yet. Screaming at people, sit down. No, I'm kidding. So it was great. And the fireworks and the concert, the concert was great. What a great band we had. And there were thousands of people there. I hope you enjoyed it. But we always do the best we can in the city of Ontario. Tomorrow night, there's a great Selena tribute group that's coming. And I mean, this girl is Selena, if you love that. So We invite you to all of the different things that we do for the community because we want to make sure that we all are able to live, work, and play here. So with that, I'd like to say thank you. And for participating in our meeting, our next scheduled meeting will be on July 21st. Thank you for attending.

A cooperative of Sunkist through Sunkist.