City Council - Regular Meeting

So please do your part to promote rail safety. And always stay alert around railroad tracks. Rail safety begins with you.

Hey Paris, did you know that there's an app that puts the entire city in the palm of your hands? Yep, the City of Paris app is your one-stop shop for everything Paris. Report issues like graffiti or potholes, pay your bills, check out upcoming events, even contact City Hall, all from your phone. I literally reported a streetlight outage last night and it only took 30 seconds. Download it today and stay connected to your city.

The Pack a Smile event, it was our inaugural food backpack giveaway, and it really derived from the Mayor's Alliance 10 Childhood Hunger. This task force brings together community partners, including local school districts, nonprofit organizations, businesses.

Okay, this is everything.

Oh, look at this. It's not even...

Where did the young lady go?

Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, good evening, everybody. We're ready to call to order our joint meeting of the City Council, successor agency to the Redevelopment Agency, the Public Finance Authority, Public Utility Authority, Housing Authority, the Paris Joint Powers Authority, and the Paris Economic Development Corporation of the City of Paris this Tuesday, January 13, 2026. And the call time is 635. Madam Clerk, can we have a roll call, please?

Council Member Vallejo? Here. Council Member Nava?

Present.

Council Member Corona?

Present.

Mayor Pro Temoram? Here. Mayor Vargas?

Present. Thank you. We are all here. Item three is our invocation. If you please stand and join us as we hear from Pastor Gregory McNair from the God's Harvest Community Church. Then remain standing for item four for our Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Councilwoman Vallejo.

Good evening, everyone. Thank you for this opportunity, Mayor, and Happy New Year. Let us pray. Father God in heaven, we thank you for your goodness and your mercy. Oh God, we thank you for watching over us even last night, calling our name this morning and waking us up, giving us another opportunity to serve you as well as this dear city. God, we ask you to touch our dear mayor, who is the visionary of this great city and the council. Bless each and every one that's at the sound of my voice. Give us peace, even though we are here to take care of business. Lord, allow us to receive the information that's coming before us with clarity and understanding. In Jesus' matchless name I pray, amen.

Amen.

Please join me in saluting our nation's flag. Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin.

Thank you, Pastor. All right, Item 5 is our report on closed session items. I'll call on the City Attorney, Soltani, to give us an update.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Council met in closed session on 1, 2, 3, 4 items. No reportable action was taken with respect of any of the items. Thank you.

Thank you. Item six is our presentations. We have none. Moving on to seven is our Youth Advisory Committee communications. This report will be given by Melanie Lopez, our president of our Youth Advisory Council.

Good evening, honorable mayor, members of city council and city staff. My name is Melanie Lopez, and I am honored to serve as the 2025-2026 president of the Youth Advisory Committee, also known as YAC. I would like to share a few exciting updates on behalf of our committee. First, we are proud to announce that YAC will be hosting its 10th annual job shadow day on Thursday, February 5th, 2026. This event is designed for local high school juniors and seniors and provides them with the opportunity to explore potential career paths and gain first-hand exposure to professional environments as they prepare for life after high school. In addition, our next YAC meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 20th from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. at the Council Chambers. We encourage all interested youth to attend and get involved in shaping programs and initiatives that support our community. We also are excited to announce our upcoming park speedification event. The first event will be held on Saturday, February 7th from 8am to 11am at Linear Park. Community service hours will be provided for participating students. Lastly, YAC applications for 2026-2027 term will open on Monday, February 2nd, 2026 and close on Friday, May 1st, 2026. Availability is limited and we encourage all eligible youth who meet the requirements to apply. As always, we encourage our community to stay safe, stay engaged, and stay connected. For the latest updates on YAC programs and events, please follow us on social media at ParisYAC. Thank you for your time and continued support. We appreciate your partnership in helping make Paris a vibrant, welcoming, and inspiring place for youth and families.

Thank you, Mallory. OKAY, ITEM NINE IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES. 9A IS CONSIDERATION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE REGULAR JOINT MEETING HELD ON DECEMBER 9TH, 2025. IF THERE ARE NO COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM THE COUNCIL, I ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE. PARDON ME? I SKIPPED ONE? OH, I SURE DID. I'M SORRY. ITEM EIGHT, PUBLIC COMMENT. AT THIS TIME, THIS IS WHEN ANY MEMBER OF OUR COMMUNITY CAN MAKE A COMMENT THAT'S NOT ON OUR LISTED ON OUR AGENDA. AND WE WILL GIVE THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK. Madam Clerk, do we have any requests?

Yes, sir. Ed Delgado?

Sorry, Ed.

Well, you tried anyways. Well, good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Ed Delgado. And I am running for Assembly District 60. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I come before you not just as a candidate for state assembly, but as someone who has spent a lifetime in service to community, country, and family. For 10 years, I served in the United States Coast Guard, where I learned the meaning of duty, teamwork, and accountability under pressure. That foundation carried me through 25 years with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, working in the jails and administration to protect our neighborhoods, uphold the law, and ensure public safety with fairness and integrity. For the past four years, I've had the honor of serving on the Marina Valley City Council. In that role, I've seen firsthand how state decisions directly affect our cities, whether it's in funding, public safety resources, infrastructure, or local control. I understand the challenges cities like ours face because I've been in the room, at the table, and accountable to the people we serve. Beyond my professional service, I've been married for 30 years. That commitment reflects values that guide me every day, stability, responsibility, and putting long-term well-being of others first. I am running for State Assembly to be a strong, experienced voice for Assembly District 60 and our region. Someone who understands public safety, respects local government, and knows how to work collaboratively to get results. I am committed to representing our community with the same dedication and integrity that has defined my career. I respectfully ask for your support as I take this next step in public service. It would be an honor to carry the priorities of this city and the region to the State Assembly and continue advocating for the people that we serve. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your continued service to our community. Thank you. Thank you. Ashley.

Go ahead.

Ashley Barton.

Hello, council members, city staff, and Paris residents. Happy New Year. My name is Ashley. I lead the LGBTQ plus community group Rise Paris Pride. And I have two messages today, the first of which is an invitation to our first Queer Safe Meetup this year. Rise Paris Pride is going to be hosting a patch, sewing, and painting workshop. All supplies and snacks are going to be provided completely free. This class is better suited for older kids and adults, but our doors are open to all. It's gonna be January 31st at the Library Community Center at 2.30. Patches are great for mending holes in clothes, but they can also have messages of what you believe in, look really cool. One of my patches says over here, no human is illegal. So that brings me to my second message, that it is absolutely imperative to support and rely on each other when it comes to protecting our neighbors from ICE violence. If you see ICE or Border Patrol, call or text Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Rapid Response Network. The number is 909-361-4588. Similarly, if you need local help with immigration law and applications for citizenship, TODEC is just down the street from here, and they are the leading nonprofit in Paris. So if you don't need their help, your neighbors do. Reach out to see how you can help to help your neighbors. So I believe working together as a community is how we all can rise. Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley.

Lupe Gomez.

Good evening, everyone. Mayor and city council members, I'm here to formally express concern regarding the mayor's decision on November 18th to not open or allow discussion on an item related to the city council code of conduct, despite the matter being raised and clearly within the jurisdiction of this body. The code of conduct exists to ensure transparency, accountability, and ethical governance. When concerns are raised regarding compliance with that code, the public has a reasonable expectation that concerns will at minimum be acknowledged and properly routed, not unilaterally shut down, which is what happened. While I understand the role of the mayor Managing meetings that authority does not succeed the council's collective responsibility to uphold its own adopted policies nor does it negate the public's right to raise governance concerns during appropriate portions of the meeting. So I am respectfully requesting the following. That the code of conduct concern raised on November 18th be formally agendized for a future meeting. that the council clarify the proper process for raising code of conduct issues so the public is not arbitrarily silenced, and that this body reaffirm that no single member, including the mayor, has unilaterally authority to block discussion of governance and ethics matters when properly raised. Transparency is not optional, accountability is not discretionary, and the code of conduct must apply to all members and equally. And so the reason I'm bringing this up is because on November 18th, I did mention to city council that I did want to speak on that item. The council acknowledged it. It was acknowledged that it was missed, that public comment was not opened, and yet I was still not given an opportunity to do so. And so I think that I've let time pass. No one has reached out to me and nothing has been said. And now that the meeting minutes for that meeting came up and I reviewed them, it didn't even acknowledge that I did speak up and say that I was not allowed to give public comment. Public comment was not opened by the mayor at that time. So that being said, I hope to hear from someone to be able to get this done properly. Thank you.

Thank you.

That is all.

All right, moving on to item nine is our approval of minutes. Nine A's consideration to approve the minutes of the regular joint meeting held on December 9th, 2025. If there are no comments or questions, I'll entertain a motion to approve. I have a motion by Mayor Prokhtan Murab, second by Councilman Nava. Please call the vote.

5-0, motion approved.

Thank you. Item 10 is our consent calendar items. Consent calendar items are normally enacted in one motion. The mayor or the city council may remove the consent calendar item for a separate action or discussion. We will have public comment limited to three minutes. Council, anybody have anything they want to pull for a separate vote or discussion?

I'd like to pull item D for a discussion, possibly a separate vote.

Diaz and David?

Mayor, if I may pull item 10B, as in Bravo.

Okay.

For clarification, thank you.

Anybody else? All right, so we're looking to approve 10A, C, E, F, and G. Let me ask for public comment first. Madam Clerk, do you have any requests to speak?

Yes, sir. Luz Gallegos for 10C.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor and City Council. Here, after I think we started this conversation back in 2023 and now we're seeing the fruits of so many people's labor, but here in full support of Just Cause Eviction Protection, our community continues to be struggling. Our community continues to be separated and we know that their homes are their safe spaces. So we look forward to continue working with the city and our city council and our residents to continue supporting just cause eviction and any affordable housing or opportunities that we could secure here for the city of Paris. Asking for your support for just cause eviction protection pursuant. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ashley Barton, Tansy.

As a representative of Rise Paris Pride, like so many other intersecting minorities, the queer community is very susceptible to housing discrimination and issues, of course, so I wanted to also fully support Just Cause Ordinance. I support everything that IECLT has recommended. The work has been put in over three years. over two years, almost three, the data has been collected and distributed and talked about. We've made sure that this is gonna be helpful to everybody, and that includes even the mom and pop landlords, okay? So thank you for considering it. Thank you for pushing this through. Please make it happen. And we want to also include the protection starting after 30 days. It should cover mobile homes. and the relocation assistance as well. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Maribond Nunez, Tenci.

I know there was an email from Inland County Legal Services, so hopefully you all saw that as well. So yes, Maribel Nunez worked with pretty much everybody in the dais, and thank you Michelle Ogawa and the team with putting this together. It's a good, well I would say satisfactory start in the city of Paris. We do want to make sure we clarify information, because I did do my due diligence about if we were to start this ordinance, the first day of tenancy, because I know there was information like, oh, if we do six months, rental agreements are going to be five months. I don't know where you got your data. And I don't want to be thinking badly that it was just intentionally wrong information, but I did reach out to Baldwin Park, because that's a city that kept coming up as a general law city, and they don't have that issue. And I talked to ICLS, and so the way it works is that it's the first year they do 12 months that we see rental agreements, and then it goes month to month. None of this five, 11 month business, so I just don't know. I'm very concerned about where you're getting your information. So we do need to go back to this. So we will be coming back to the Ways and Means Committee, because it's so important that day one, when you're a tenant, that you have that protection. So we can't be passing around incorrect information. SO I REALLY ASK THAT WE DO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. AND I APPRECIATE THE TWO-MONTH RELOCATION ASSISTANCE. IT WAS A LOT OF ADVOCACY THAT WE HAD TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN. IT DIDN'T HAPPEN AUTOMATICALLY FROM THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE. WE HAD TO ASK TODIC TO REACH OUT TO OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WERE NOT AT THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE. SO WE DON'T HAVE TO BE, OUR HOPE IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT. IT SHOULD JUST BE AN AUTOMATIC. And then the other thing that I wanted to share is that if we were to start this right away, and I'm not talking about the ordinance as law, but the initial ordinance, then you're keeping that person protected. Why wait 12 months? Why do what Sacramento did? I just don't understand... I don't know if individuals are being bought by the apartment association, but I just don't understand. This is only going to impact the corporations. I know there was a great concern, and I get it, for the mama-papas. We understand that. Times are tough getting that second income, but it just doesn't make sense. I appreciate, you know, our recommendation on the police report, the multilingual language, you know, language and equity is key for rights. But we will be coming back and we do want the rent stabilization to be included. So we won't forget that. And if we need to go bypass the Ways and Means Committee, we will do that. And I know elections are going to happen in November. So like I said, this is a good initial start. But like I said, in November, we will come back either in the city council or... getting out the vote. Either you're with us or you're against us. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Lupe Gomez, 10A, C, and D. Before I begin, I just wanted to get clarification. Are we able to ask that these items be pulled and then a three-minute open comment be allowed for the public to respond to those items that were pulled?

No, you can just make comment on the items you want to talk about.

Okay, so we are only allowed three minutes for everything we want to talk about that's on the consent calendar from A through G?

That's correct.

Okay, I'd like that to be on the record. So I guess I'll go ahead and talk about the most important one that is being presented. Well, it's not the most important, but it does take precedence today. I want to clarify my position regarding the Barrett's funding and the city's approach to economic development. I've spoken directly with the economic development director, and I understand that the proposed allocations and categories have been discussed and will be presented today. However, or I'm not even sure if they're going to be presented since they're on the consent calendar. The core issue before council is not where the money has been discussed, it's where the city has the internal capacity, accountability, and institutional follow through to justify spending it again. The Economic Development Department has been operating as a skeleton crew for far too long. There is no point in paying consultants for detailed strategic advice if the city does not have sufficient long-term staff to implement that advice, follow through on it, and sustain the work. Consultants do not execute. Staff do. Until internal capacity is stabilized, additional consulting will not change outcomes. It will only repeat past patterns. Past consultants, well, we also need to be honest about past experience. The city has already paid consultants for downtown revitalization efforts, including evaluations, outreach, and surveys related to downtown Paris and the historical Paris Theater. Those consultants completed their work, reports were delivered, community input was gathered, and then nothing happened. There was no implementation, no follow through, and no public reporting. The work was shelved. That is exactly what happens when there is no internal staffing capacity to carry consultant recommendations forward. At the same time, the city has departments such as public services that are heavily staffed for events and public outreach. Those efforts may be valuable for community engagement, but they do not generate economic return. Meanwhile, the department responsible for business attraction, retention, and revenue growth remains undersourced. This is a misalignment of priorities. One additional point relates to consultant recommendations around attending ICIS conferences and similar expos. The city already attends many retail focused conferences, yet we are not seeing measurable results coming back to Paris from those trips. I appreciate that staff is exploring different types of trade shows, including those focused on entertainment and destination uses. However, when public funds are used for conferences and travel, the public deserves accountability. We should be seeing post conference reports leads generated, follow-up actions, and outcomes shared publicly. Right now, we don't. If the city is going to move away from conferences that have not produced results, then those conferences should be discontinued, not duplicated. Switching to new trade shows should replace existing spending, not add to it. This must be about conservative strategic investment not paying repeatedly for exposure without return. Before spending additional money on consultants or programs, the city must correct the underlying issue. Economic development staffing should be treated as a core investment, not an afterthought. Once the city has stable internal capacity and clear accountability, then and only then does it make sense to bring in outside consulting support if needed. This is about learning from past mistakes, aligning priorities, and ensuring that public dollars lead to real outcomes. I urge the council to focus first on staffing, implementation, and accountability so we don't repeat.

Thank you. Anybody else?

That is all.

All right. Let's just go in order. So the first one is B, now that you needed some clarification. I THINK FIRST, STAFF, DID YOU WANT TO MAKE YOUR COMMENT?

YES, WE'LL MAKE ONE CORRECTION. COUNCILMEMBER NAVA DID MAKE A REQUEST FOR BUILDING HEIGHT TO BE 35 FEET REGARDLESS IF THERE'S A REZONE OR NO REZONE EXISTENTIAL RECEPTOR. SO THERE'S A MEMO THAT'S BEEN PASSED AROUND TO MAKE THAT CORRECTION, TO MAKE THAT CHANGE. SO I WOULDN'T MAKE THAT PART OF THE RECORD.

Thank you, Kenneth. And then to that extent, I also wanted to clarify the landscape buffer, the setback, that it would be 100 feet regardless of if that is involving a rezone or not.

Yes, you can make that request. It does require, yes, we can make that change.

Thank you. So those are just the two points that I wanted to make sure we clarified based on the report. Thank you.

All right, very good. Anybody else on that item? All right, so I'm looking for a motion on 10B. A motion by Councilwoman Nava, seconded by Councilman Corona. Please call the vote.

5-0, motion approved.

Thank you. Councilman Rabb on your item 10D.

Yes, regarding 10D, this is the $1 million for the BAR-IDS, a little over $1 million for the BAR-IDS funding. I know we discussed it at the last meeting, at the close of the meeting. My concern is that given our anticipated fiscal difficulties that cities throughout the area are going to be facing, I do not feel comfortable moving forward with a one point plus million dollar expenditure to the budget. I would make a motion that we refer this back to the Economic Development Committee to power it down. I do think there is room for the Economic Development Committee to grow. I just think some of the other items may be a little difficult. either duplicative or just overbroad given our current circumstances. So I'd make a motion that this go back to the Economic Development Committee to stripe out or cut out, excise out some of the extra things. I know that you guys did your due diligence on this, but I think we were at a different position just a few months ago. But I think there are certain things that we need to just address. And potentially, if I get a second approval, we could send this back to Economic Development and then maybe bring this back and March or April for further discussion.

Anybody else have any comments on that? Councilman Carano?

Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree that we're definitely in a different position, but for me, economic development means that, you know, we're starting to go a different direction. So we're really going to need to focus on economic development. If there are some things in there that we could say, hey, why don't we try A, B, and C before we add, you know, X, Y, and Z. You know, but I do agree. I think I asked this question, do we need everything on there? And the answer was, yeah, we need it all. So, but I mean, I'm definitely agreeable to maybe send it back like, hey, bring us your top, five priorities out of eight or, you know, if there's a possibility to do that. I know you guys are there.

We did vet it through a lot of information, and that's what we got down to what we considered the nuts and bolts. Do you want to make a comment?

Go ahead.

No, go ahead. I'm done.

And to that extent, because we did make these recommendations, I feel like it would be redundant to go back. We, as a committee, made these strong recommendations. Now, I expressed to my colleagues that you could individually pick and choose which ones you'd like to prioritize. So rather than sending it back to the Economic Development Committee, where the mayor and I serve and have already done our due diligence, then I would encourage our council colleagues to then review the staff report and whatever you'd like to prioritize and please feel free to bring those items forward and These are all different reasons that we are looking to explore right so Those are some let me let me ask for clarification city manager and city attorney, so We can't just do a blanket

Blank check, if you will. I mean, if something comes back and it's beyond your expenditure as a city manager, it's still going to have to come back to us individually. So that's going to vet the process right there alone.

If there's an individual contract to be awarded above my threshold, that would be coming to you. However, if it's below the threshold I'm authorized to approve, it will not come back to you. Got it.

Also, Mayor, if I may add, our economic development committees are open to the public. So those are agendized and made out to the public. So if at any point in time anyone would like to participate, then you are more than welcome to. And this goes for a lot of our committees. And I think that would be a great opportunity to go ahead and make your points then. But given that this is already on the consent calendar and we've discussed it, unless, like I mentioned, my colleagues feel like they want to chime in and set their own personal ideas and preferences, then I'm also amenable to that. So, thank you.

Councilwoman Nava? I mean, Vallejo?

Yeah, and then I also want to emphasize that our team worked really hard to really have this plan and everything set. Our council is on a whole new trajectory right now where our main focus is economic development. And if we don't start moving now, we are going to lose a lot of opportunities And if we want more businesses to come here, if we want more revenue to come here, we need staff because economic development staff, I do feel bad for them. They have been short stuff for so long. And I really want to put this as a main priority. And this is what we should really be prioritizing right now.

Thank you. Okay. Nobody else? Councilman Corona.

So I think after hearing all my colleagues, I do agree that... Unless there are some specific things that you want to change, Mayor Pro Tem, I'm willing to support you. But I do agree. I think we have a necessity right now. And, you know, I definitely like the fact that we're going to be growing our actual staff within economic development. You know, I think I stated, you know, it doesn't really, it's all consultant. No, there's. There's allocation for actual staff. And I think our economic development is one of those departments that really is a huge emphasis right now, a large priority for our city to grow in our economic development for our entire city. That's all the comments from me. Thank you.

Okay. There's only a motion. No one has seconded yet. or unless you want to modify anything on your original motion or pull it back and let us go forward with as is.

I'll keep my motion. If no one seconds it, it'll just die.

So there's a motion. Is there a second? There is no second. So we're going to go back to the original.

So the original motion was to take it back to the economic development?

Yes.

Okay. And the economic development committee is saying, hey, I think we've already vetted it enough. So it's really not going to go. Okay.

And just to reiterate, we have hired a consultant to look at our department and tell us specifically ways that we could improve. So these are not ideas that we are picking out of thin air rather than we've had an outside entity basically provide us. And this is what the mayor and I have picked out out of the longer list that was already essentially placed. And then, like the mayor has mentioned, we have taken time to allocate funding or figure out quotes as to how much that would cost us. And so this number is a general quote, but like the mayor said, a lot of these will still have to come to council and there will still be additional review. So I hope that answers your question.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it sounds like a lot of stuff has to come through us to get vetted anyways. Yeah, okay. Thank you for clarifying that.

I still don't have no second, so I'm going to revert back to... HIS MOTION DIES AND WE'LL GO BACK TO 10-D AS IT STANDS UNLESS SOMEONE HAS A SUBSTITUTE MOTION. I CAN'T BE MOTIONED. SOMEONE ELSE HAS TO DO IT. OKAY. THAT WAS BY ACCIDENT. OKAY. SO I HAVE A MOTION BY COUNCILWOMAN NAVA, SECOND BY COUNCILWOMAN NAVA. PLEASE CALL THE VOTE. Did I say that twice? So my glasses have bifocals, and I need that for reading my agenda. I don't need it for my computer, and then the top portion is to see far away, so this little screen is, I don't need neither, and I need to take my glasses off for that. I apologize. All right, so motion by Councilwoman Nava, second by Councilwoman Vallejo. Please call the vote.

Vallejo, Nava, Corona, Vargas, yes. Rabb, no.

Okay, good. Thank you very much. Item, was there another one? Yeah, but I want to make sure we're done with all the others. Okay, so now we're looking at 10A, C, E, F, and G. Looking for a motion. I have a motion by Councilman Caruana, second by Mayor Pro Tem Rapp. Please call the vote.

5-0, motion approved.

Thank you. Okay, moving on to item 11 is our public hearings. 11A, CONSIDERATION TO ADOPT PROPOSED RESOLUTION NUMBER NEXT IN ORDER REGARDING ANNEXATION CUP 20-05101 BEYOND FOOD MART TO THE CITY MAINTENANCE DISTRICT CUP 20-05101 IS LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE HARLEY KNOX BOULEVARD AND PARIS BOULEVARD. THE OWNER IS DENY OIL. THIS IS GOING TO BE PRESENTED BY OUR CITY ENGINEER.

Thank you, Mayor. If you wish to choose.

We can waive this report. Very good. Thank you. Council, does anybody have any questions on this issue? Madam Clerk, do I have any requests to speak? Well, let me open up the public hearing first. Let's open up the public hearing at, come on, 709. Madam Clerk, do I have any requests to speak?

No, sir.

Okay. Okay. Close the hearing at 7.09. And Madam Clerk, if you can open up the three ballots, please.

City of Paris annexation of CUP 20-05101, Maintenance District No. 84-1. The ballot is marked yes. City of Paris annexation of CUP 20-05101 to benefit zone 202 landscape maintenance district number one. The ballot is marked yes. City of Paris annexation of CUP 20-05101 to benefit zone 166, flood control maintenance district number one. The ballot is marked yes.

Thank you. All right, this time I'll call for a motion on the three resolutions. Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Rapp, second by Councilman Nava. Please call the vote.

5-0 motion approved.

Thank you. 11B is consideration to adopt proposed resolution numbers next in order regarding annexation of CUP 20-05101. This is the same Beyond Food Mart located at Harley Knox Boulevard and Paris Boulevard. I'm going to open up the public hearing at 7-12. Madam Clerk, do I have any requests to speak?

No, sir.

Okay, we'll close the public hearing at 7-12. And I'll call for a motion on the first resolution. I have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Rapp, second by Councilwoman Nava. Please call the vote.

5-0 motion approved.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, can you open up the ballot, please?

Community Facilities District Number 2001-3, North Paris Public Safety of the City of Paris, Annexation Number 74, Special Tax and Appropriations Limit Election. The ballot is marked yes.

Thank you. Okay, at this time I'll call for a motion on the second resolution. I have a motion by Councilman Corona, second by Mayor Pro Tem Rapp. Please call the vote.

5L motion approved.

Thank you. All right, 11C is consideration to issue the 10-day report identifying the measures taken to alleviate the conditions that led to the adoption of the initial 45-day industrial moratorium and adopt proposed interim urgency ordinance number next in order, extending the initial 45-day MORATORIUM FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10 MONTHS AND 15 DAYS UNTIL DECEMBER 9, 2026 ON THE APPROVAL, ESTABLISHMENT, AND EXPANSION OF THE INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSING AND DISTRIBUTION USES. THIS WILL BE INTRODUCED BY OUR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, MR. KENNETH FUNG.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU A QUICK BACKGROUND. ON DECEMBER 9, 2025, THE COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED AN URGENCY ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING A 45-DAY INDUSTRIAL MORATORIUM POSITING INDUSTRIAL APPROVAL, ESTABLISHMENT, AND EXPANSION OF WAREHOUSES AND DISTRIBUTION USES IN THE CITY EXCEPT FOR PROJECTS THAT HAVE VESTED RIGHTS, WHICH INCLUDES A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT, A VESTING MAP, OR A GRADING OR BUILDING PERMIT. Since that interim ordinance, the next step is for the council to issue what is called a 10-day report, which describes the measures that have been taken to alleviate the condition that led to the initial moratorium. The 10-day report must be issued regardless of whether the council decides to extend the moratorium. Additionally, the council is requested to consider extending the additional 45-day moratorium for an additional 10 months and 15 days, which would extend it out to December 9th, 2026, which also requires a fourth-fifth vote. If the council approves that extension, there is an additional potential extension for an additional one year. Just in summary, what is the 10-day report? As mentioned, it describes the measures that staff has taken to indicate what staff has done since the additional 45-day urgency ordinance. So some of the things that has happened or has occurred is what has happened earlier today, the second reading for updating the industrial development guidelines. The second thing is requiring a condition use permit for any industrial project over 50,000 square feet. So there's greater discretionary requirements for industrial projects. Third, the staff has been working on the circulation element update in compliance with what is called Assembly Bill 98, which is the goal of sitting and designing regulations for truck routes so that it minimizes impact to residential communities. The plan is to bring that before the council mid of this year, 2026. Staff has also reached out to environmental and traffic consultant to quantify the impacts of the high volume and rate of development of warehouses in the past 20 years in comparison to what has been occurring in terms of commercial and high density residential development. And the purpose of those studies is to figure out if we should even further enhance a regulation or have other stipulations such as requiring higher standards for roadway improvement as part of industrial development. So those are the things staff has been working on, and that's what's required as we initially issue the 45-day moratorium. The next step, as I mentioned, is to consider extending the moratorium an additional 10 days and 10 months, sorry, 15 days. As mentioned at the last council meeting by Council Member Rabb, the council can consider expanding or just keeping the moratorium framework the same, which includes all industrial project, industrial warehouse and distribution product regardless of square footage. Some of the parameters that was presented previously was to consider maybe carving out the moratorium would be excluded for projects and plan checks already been approved. projects that have already been approved but not in plan check, or projects in the entire process. And so this is the list of those projects. In terms of what happens while the moratorium is in place, just for the tentative parcel maps, they're approved for two years, and there are six one-year extensions. The moratorium automatically tows these maps. They don't have to come back to the council for extension requests. They're automatically towed when the moratorium is in place. But for a product that requires a development plan review or condition use permit, there's some product that requires a condition use permit. Those are very few. Those have an approval for three years and three one-year extensions. The DPRs are administratively approved by staff. The one that's listed here with the CEP, that has to go back to the council or planning commission for an extension of time. Staff did reach out to the residence group on December 29th by email, and we reached out to the industrial community on December 30th, 2025 by email. We did have a meeting with the residence group on Monday at their request. They were just trying to share with us their ideas of what we should be looking at and pursuing as we work at getting the studies that I mentioned in terms of the environment consultant and traffic consultant, to kind of further evaluate whether we can further enhance the regulations. So that did happen yesterday. IN CONCLUSION, STAFF RECOMMENDS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ISSUED THE 10-DAY REPORT AND THEN SECONDLY TO ADOPT THE URGENCY ORDINANCE EXTENDING THE MORATORIUM ADDITIONAL 10 MONTHS AND 15 DAYS TO DECEMBER 9TH, 2026, WHICH AGAIN REQUIRES A FOUR-FIFTH VOTE. AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. THANK YOU, KENNETH.

ALL RIGHT, COUNCIL, BEFORE I OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING, DO YOU HAVE ANY REAL QUICK QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR CLARIFICATION FROM STAFF? All right, let's go ahead and open up the public hearing at 7.20. Madam Clerk, do you have any requests to speak?

Yes, sir.

How many?

Three.

Okay.

Paige Gosney.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. My name is Paige Gosney. You've seen me here before, speaking in opposition to the moratorium. I'm not going to belabor points that were previously reiterated. I did submit a letter. I'm here tonight on behalf of Prologis, who's a property owner in the city, developer in the city. They operate a number of industrial properties. I wanted to focus my comments tonight on the issue of tolling, which Kenneth kind of mentioned in his presentation. The last few years, as you know, there have been a number of jurisdictions in the Inland Empire that have adopted moratoriums. Every single one of them has automatically told all entitlements during the pendency of the moratorium. Paris is the only exception that has not. Now, there's no legal obligation that Paris told entitlements, but given the considerations at play, given the Significant financial and other investments and frankly the uncertainty and the conflict that it causes by having entitlements continue to run During the pendency of the moratorium creates significant significant issues that I just don't know that the council truly understands Prologis is the example in the letter their entitlements for Ramona and Webster are set to expire December 18th 2027 So I understand tonight we're only extending to December 2026. You know and I know that you know and I know that most likely it's going to be extended until December of 2027, in which case their entitlements would expire nine days after the moratorium is lifted. Not only is that problematic because who knows what's going to happen in the interim. Yes, there are extensions that the city could potentially grant. There's no guarantee that the city is going to grant those extensions. Nor for that matter is there enough time for Prologis or another developer who would be similarly situated to obtain a grading permit execute on that permit in order to vest their rights. Under California law, in order to vest your rights in a development project, you need to pull a permit and expend significant funds in reliance upon that permit. You need to take action in reliance upon that permit. What you're adopting tonight, or considering adopting tonight, would prevent Prologis and other developers from executing on those permits, from vesting their rights. And you're going to be faced with this crux, right, where you have no time in order to perfect your entitlements, and there's no guarantee that the city is going to be cooperative to grant extensions to allow time to execute on those entitlements. There's significant time, significant expense, and frankly, significant uncertainty that throws a lot of these issues into play. It creates a lot of conflict for developers like Prologis and others. And frankly, developers that also have projects that are approved, as referenced in my letter, that are going to provide significant benefits to the city that ultimately now are going to be racing to get those projects built in order to provide those projects, provide benefits, like, for example, the Blue Marquise project that's referenced in my letter that, you know, is going to provide $400,000 for the Paris Skills Center. That's money the city's not going to see for at least a period of two years, if ever, because who knows what's going to happen.

Thank you, sir. Time's up.

Bill Blankenship.

Good evening, honorable mayor, members of the council. My name is Bill Blankenship, representing NAEP in the Empire chapter. I've come before you many times now talking about moratorium good neighbor policies. And as we heard from the previous speaker, there are a significant number or there's quite a few projects that have entitlements. that are going through the final stages before they're able to pull their permit and the moratorium essentially will stop them. and create tremendous uncertainty. The industry has worked hard with the city of Paris for many years now and has provided great financial benefit in partnership with the community. And all that is lost potentially at least for the next two years and maybe beyond because some of these projects, let's be honest, they're going to go away. And there's probably some members on the dais that think that's okay. But that's a great loss to the community because every project that comes to your city is conditioned to build infrastructure. And much of that infrastructure is long and far beyond the perimeters of their project. And they provide great benefit to the community. Paris is an older community. I live in an older community. And as many older communities have, or most older communities have, they lack infrastructure or they lack aging infrastructure. And these projects have created a partnership with the community to build that infrastructure and to create a seamless plan. And your staff has worked on a plan for the city that relies on this infrastructure. So if these projects go away or if these projects stall over the next two years, who pays for that infrastructure and how does that infrastructure get built in the community? So I ask the council tonight to please take a pause on the moratorium. YOUR STAFF HAS ALREADY DONE THAT STUDY ON THE IMPACTS OF THE INDUSTRY. THERE'S ALSO ANOTHER STUDY THAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE DONE AS WELL AS THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS THAT THE LOGISTICS INDUSTRY AND EACH OF THESE PROJECTS WILL BRING TO THE COMMUNITY. AND IF THE COMMUNITY WERE TO LOSE THAT, HOW WOULD THEY SUPPLANT THOSE LOST REVENUES AND THOSE LOST INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS? SO AGAIN, I RESPECTFULLY ASK, PLEASE DON'T CONTINUE THE MORATORIUM THIS EVENING. I think there's another way about it. You've already passed a very extensive good neighbor policy. You already have a study in place. You already have very stringent road standards. So go back to the great work that's been done in the community, rely on it, and proceed forward. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify this evening.

Thank you.

Tatiana Flores.

Hello, thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Tatiana Flores and I am here to express my support for extending the warehouse moratorium. I want to begin by thanking the Council for approving the 45-day moratorium back in December. That decision was an important first step. However, extending the moratorium is a critical and responsible action that will allow the City of Paris to continue to plan thoughtfully for sustainable development, protect residents from increasing environmental and health burdens, and overall improve the quality of life in the city. Paris has experienced cumulative impacts from years of industrial expansion and a pause is necessary to ensure that future growth is meaningful, well thought out, and aligns with community well-being, environmental justice, and the city's long-term infrastructure capacity. This moratorium period creates an opportunity for the city to conduct a comprehensive community impact assessment and gather meaningful input from residents, workers, businesses, and environmental and public health experts. Through this process, Paris can develop a long-term vision for responsible economic growth, one that diversifies the economy and creates more opportunities for younger residents that are graduating from high school or college. This time can also be used to work toward compliance with AB 98, especially as Paris is a warehouse concentration region, by ensuring residents are meaningfully involved in identifying not only truck routes, but also where truck traffic should be allowed or avoided, especially now while the environmental review is still being prepared. Increased warehouse development has significantly raised heavy-duty truck traffic, leading to safety concerns, congestion, collisions, and accelerated road damage as we see on the 215. Extending the moratorium would allow the city to update the truck routing plans, protect sensitive areas like neighborhoods, schools, and parks, and plan for long-term infrastructure and safety improvements. Extending the moratorium is not about stopping growth, but planning responsibly and ensuring that future development benefits the community. Therefore, I urge the council to extend the warehouse moratorium and set the example for other cities to follow, especially in Western Riverside. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Lupe Gomez.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. I'm speaking under the moratorium item because it is the clearest statement the city has made about warehouse development that is serious enough to be considered an emergency. A moratorium is an extraordinary action. It requires urgency, clarity, and genuine finding that public health, safety, or welfare is at risk. The problem is that this moratorium does not stand alone. It is being paired with changes to the conditional use permit process and the removal of exemption of project level CEQA analysis, actions that move in the opposite direction. These positions cannot coexist. You cannot say warehouse development is an emergency serious enough to pause approvals while simultaneously creating pathways to approve warehouses and reducing environmental review. Conditional use permit is a discretionary tool meant to allow ease by case environmental review and mitigation. Removing CEQA analysis from that process strips the CUP of its purpose and reduces it to a checklist. That does not protect residents from cumulative impacts and it increases legal risk for the city. Environmental impacts do not begin at 50,001 square feet. Tying scrutiny to an arbitrary square footage threshold invites loopholes, projects, splitting, and piecemealing, exactly what CEQA was designed to prevent. A warehouse just under that threshold can still generate truck traffic, air pollution, noise, and impacts to nearby homes and schools. Right now, the city is pausing development with one hand and allowing it with the other and streamlining approvals at the same time. This is not balance. That is indecision. Indecision creates consequences, legal risk, fiscal risk, and loss of public trust. So I'm asking the council to consider and answer these questions clearly and on the record. Are warehouses an emergency threat to Paris or are they acceptable with streamlined approval? If this is an emergency, why is project level sequel review being reduced instead of strengthened? How does the city prevent developers from gaming the square footage threshold? How does this approach protect residents from cumulative impacts? And finally, how does this reduce rather than increase the city's litigation risk? I am asking the council to pause and resequence these actions. Either the CUP and CEQA changes should be pulled or the moratorium should not move forward alongside streamlined approval pathways. I understand that the CEQA CUP analysis was under the consent calendar. That is not business as usual. That is policy change that should have been put on a separate item on the agenda to allow for public comment.

Thank you, Ms. Gomez.

That is all. Mr. May?

Yes.

I think the city manager and I would like an opportunity to clarify just one point. I want to be clear for the record. The moratorium pauses all development. You're not allowing streamlined development of any warehouses. There's a moratorium citywide. There's no warehouses being processed. And CEQA applies, absolutely, 100%. I just don't want the public to be confused about any of these points, and we just wanted to clarify these two points. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, this time we're going to close the public hearing. Pardon me?

I have one more. JC Franco?

Hi, good evening. Apologies for the delay. I ran over from a Val Verde board meeting, so it's our civic night together. Three moments? Okay. Let me catch my breath and thoughts here. Good evening, council, staff, and everybody. I appreciate your time. I wish to extend the notion that I support a continued pause on this moratorium. I think 45 days, while an incredible gesture, I think it is insufficient amount of time for the city to conduct a sufficient study. I think it's to set up a further precedent of other types of projects that may be able to sneak into a phase where we could potentially fall into further health struggles for the cities. As you've seen perhaps on the news, across the country, AI data centers, and many other sub-facilities that have found nuance within our zoning, that have found nuance within our bylaws, are radically affecting all types of communities. It doesn't matter what it is. It's generally poor, red state, blue state. It doesn't matter. It's something that I feel we should be incredibly proactive about. And so I think this moratorium, it should be extended to encapsulate things such as that. anything that gives our children the future of the city an incredible opportunity so that we don't continue to fall further down this rabbit hole of being leveraged by needless industries at this point. So with that said, I appreciate the time. Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

Ismael Garcia? I'm sorry, Ismael Gonzalez.

Hello again. Good evening. My name is Ismael Gonzalez. I'm a member of the Sierra Club San Gregorio Chapter and the Inland Valley Alliance for Environmental Justice. I am in full support of extending the 45-day moratorium to possibly up until December of this year. I think it's well needed. I think you need to expand upon it to include AI data centers, to include a prohibition for any sort of warehousing that deals with human trafficking. We live in a world where ICE is now trying to outsource their detention centers to warehouse and industrial areas. There's a warehouse in Fontana that might do exactly that. I did some research. There's already five data centers in the Inland Empire. These data centers take in water and electricity. They hike up the electricity bill for everybody surrounding them and polluting the water. And I just came from the Val Verde district board meeting when the harvest landing proposal was being finalized and hopefully it's gonna come up for you for approval. Tim Howard and his associates could not find a plan for Val Verde Elementary School. They said that they had no commitment to their phase two incentives. That's going to be the athletics park. That's going to be the residential areas. That's going to be the new school for relocation. He gave a timeline of 10 years. when the parcel hub and the commercial zones will be completed by next fall, fall of 2027.

Mr. Gonzalez, I need you to focus on this agenda. Sure. I'm not velverting.

Sure, but it definitely relates to the moratorium for warehousing. So these things, you need to consider them. They're all interconnected. So please... extend the moratorium, study the effects of these industries. And I know Mayor Pro Temp, when this moratorium was approved, you said we need to study these industries and what they're doing to our public health. I completely support that. And I think you need to do even further and study the potential industries that might come here in five, 10 years. In five, ten years, the jobs that they're selling you for these industries are going to be automated. They're going to be gone with no security for the workers at all. So please keep that in mind. Thank you so much. Have a great night.

Thank you.

Carla Pacheco.

Good evening, council members. Thank you for the work you do to guide responsible growth in our city. I'm here to ask you to support a temporary warehouse moratorium, not to stop development, but to make sure it's done responsibly. Unfortunately, we don't have a time machine. We can't go back and change decisions that were made before you guys were up there. I wish we could have done this 10 years ago, but the time is now. There's no better time than now. Election season is also coming up. Just wanted to throw that out there as well. I'm here to ask you to support this moratorium. Warehouses bring a sharp increase in diesel truck traffic, air pollution, noise, and safety risks, especially when placed near homes, schools, and senior communities. These impacts are already being felt by residents. While the promised economic benefits often fall short or come with long-term health costs the city must absorb, A moratorium gives us time to study cumulative impacts, update zoning and buffer standards, and ensure development aligns with our health, climate, and equity goals. This is a reasonable, proactive step, one that protects residents while giving the city a chance to plan smarter. Growth should not come at the expense of clean air, safe streets, and public health. I respectfully urge you to vote yes on a warehouse moratorium and put Paris residents first. As of right now, we have over 82 million square feet of warehouse space in the city of Paris. This does not include the ones that are approved and already waiting to be developed. I ask you guys also to allow for independent studies to come in from universities. There are tons of universities in the area such as UCR, UC Irvine, Pitzer College, that are doing studies on these specific areas right now. And I know those students are eager to work with government officials and local agencies to show what they've proven, to show their thesis. And whether or not you guys would work with them, that's up to you, of course. But I ask you guys to make sure that these studies are done thoughtfully, not to protect developers from being able to prove that this stuff isn't that bad because they don't live here. They don't have to go home to give their kids asthma medicine. They don't have to wonder if their wives are going to have... a higher chance of birth defects because of the air pollution. We have to worry about that stuff. You guys have to worry about that stuff. Every person in this room that lives in this region should be worried about this. And the only way that we can make change is by passing a moratorium just for us to take a pause and think about the developments that are going to come in the future. If you guys decide to stay in the city of Paris or leave, that's on you. But the people who have to stay here, they're going to be dealing with the decisions made today. So please, I urge you guys respectfully to... Vote yes on this moratorium. Thank you.

Thank you.

Franco Pacheco.

Good evening, Council. Thank you for your consideration. My name is Franco Pacheco with Inland Valley Alliance for Montemucho Justice and also affiliated with Paris Neighbors in Action and Sierra Club San Gorgonio. This moratorium, we met with city staff to discuss what's going to be studied, what's going to be the sources, what are they going to look at, why parcel hub is some way excluded from it. Because from the definitions we can find, it does fit the category of a warehouse and a distribution use. So I would respectfully ask that the council include Parcel Hub and all of those industrial-related uses that are having to do with distribution. And when directing staff for the data that's going to be allocated or studied upon, we want to include the surrounding warehouses, the ones in Mid-Valley, the ones that are going to be built in Menifee, the Storm Ridge project that's going to be built in Nuevo, the projects in Moreno Valley. the projects in Riverside and Riverside County because those affect us as well and they have a big impact on us as well and it should be done cumulatively. Also, Inland Valley Alliance and Sierra Club and we would like to see a complete ban for warehousing in Paris because I think we have reached the limit. Everywhere I go, I see another warehouse being built I see more trucks every day. We have road degradation that is, it seems like roads are getting destroyed faster than they're getting built here, right? Also, we'd like the studies to include air pollution, what effects it's gonna have on children, the mental effects it has on children, and not only children, but elderly groups, sensitive groups. Yeah, I would really like the council to consider these things and direct staff to include all this data and go for the maximum amount possible and even follow Redlands guidelines. Example, they completely banned it already, so what's stopping you guys, right? Thank you. Thank you.

That is all.

Okay, we're gonna close the public hearing at 7.44. And back to Diaz for any discussion. Or a motion. Councilman Corona? Oh, you're right. I have a motion by Councilman Corona and a second by Councilwoman Nava. Please call the vote.

Mayor?

Yes.

Mayor, we just want for the record to introduce, state that we did receive a few letters and are attached and are in your dais.

Thank you. Duly noted.

I don't need to say anymore.

5L motion approved.

All right, thank you. We're going to move on. Thank you, Mr. Gonzalez. WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO ITEM 12, BUSINESS ITEMS. 12A IS CONSIDERATION TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS TO THE VARIOUS AGENCIES AND COMMITTEES TO REPRESENT THE CITY OF PARIS. AND THIS IS INTRODUCED BY MYSELF. ALL RIGHT. SO AS USUAL, I REACHED OUT TO EVERYBODY. EVERYBODY WAS GOOD, EXCEPT COUNCILMAN NAVA AND COUNCILMAN CORONA HAS TO CHANGE THEIR RTA and I had no problem with that, and then I looked into my notes, and I'm just a little baffled that exactly almost a year ago, Mr. Corona, you expressed concerns that there were no women, not a single woman, and you couldn't move forward without bringing diversity, and that you cannot support without having a woman, at least one woman from Paris, and now we're going backwards on that, can you?

I could chime in actually, Mayor. I'll happily take over just because it was my request. At the time, I know we had residents express that they wished for me to serve on the committee. I don't know if you recall that meeting. We had folks from R&L and whatnot. And there was a very critical item on the agenda that has since transpired. And not to say that moving forward that there's additional or there will be other really critical issues on the agenda. However, at that time, because community asked me to serve, I was more than happy to, but I don't see that request happening for this year. And so therefore, I reached out to my gracious council colleague, Malcolm Corona, and asked if he was willing to serve. And then I would serve as an alternate, but primarily he would take on the responsibility. And so he agreed, and therefore I am taking on his responsibility for the RTA. And again, I am a public servant, so I will do as my community requests, wish, and I feel like I have fulfilled that. And if there's any objections here now in the room who would like me to continue serving there, then I will highly consider that. But again, I don't see anyone here in the room. as the need was expressed last year.

Oh, those are all residents that didn't even live here that asked you that. But I'd like to hear from you how you're reprinting on your stuff.

For full transparency, I did have a discussion. You know, I think everybody knows I'm a schoolteacher, so when I have to go to RTA meetings, I have to take personal time off or sick leave. And then she stated at the JPA they'd hit me at around 3 o'clock. which is later in the day, so I would take less time off. Unless you're telling me something that I don't know. But I have served as the alternate for about nine years. For full transparency, separately, I did contact my colleague over here, Ms. Vallejo, Councilwoman Vallejo, to give her priority, because I do believe that we did need a woman on that board. She preferred not to do it. She has a lot on her plate. Do you want to?

Yeah, I'm not sure if everyone's aware, but I have like a full-time salary job and then this job, so it was impossible for me to take it. But I would have loved to taken it if I had more time.

So unless there's another person, you know. If Councilman Rabb wants to do it. It sounds like it's sunset-y anyways.

Well, that was my original appointment was Councilman or Mayor Pro Tem Rabb at the time, but I don't know if he wants it. Yeah. I just wanted you to explain yourself after you made those specific direct concerns about not having a woman and now you're replacing a woman.

No, I want to make it clear. Hold on, Mayor. I want to make it clear. I asked her, are you sure? And then I asked the only other woman that's on our council and she also declined. So I thought about that and I want to make sure that we're clear on that.

And don't worry, Mayor. Wednesday we will have a fully woman diet here so that there is no discussion for that.

All right. So here's the lineup. I'll forward this to you too, Nancy. I should have did it before, Judy, but sorry about that. I'll give you this copy at the end of the night. Starting with the Riverside Transit Agency, we have Councilwoman Nava and Councilwoman Vallejo as the alternate. Western Riverside Council of Governments, Mayor Vargas is a representative. Councilwoman Maricela is the alternate. And please, everybody up here, chime in if I made a mistake. Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority is Councilman or Mayor Pro Tem Rabb is the delegate and Councilman Corona is the alternate. The March Joint Powers Authority, Mayor Vargas is a representative and now Councilman Corona will be serving as a representative. And I chose to put Vallejo as the alternate YOU WANT IT OUT, YOU WANT IT OUT. ARE YOU OKAY WITH THAT, LIZ?

OKAY. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION.

I'M STILL GOING TO LIST THIS, BUT I BELIEVE ELISA DID TAKE OVER.

THAT'S CORRECT.

OKAY. SO CITY CLERK'S OFFICE, DO WE STILL LIST IT AND THEN DO WE SAY SERVED BY CITY OF MARINO VALLEY? IS THAT HOW WE DO THAT? I DON'T RECALL. OR JUST SUBMIT IT? SO WHAT DO WE LIST? CALL HER. We would name her as a delegate at the time of the conference, but she's not a delegate now, right? Can you come to the microphone?

Good evening. As you know, every other year we alternate with the City of Moreno Valley.

That's the way we're supposed to be doing it, but we haven't been doing that, but go on.

Correct. And Councilwoman Nava... previously served as the delegate representative for this region. That term ended last year, but for their annual conference, we still are allowed to have a representative attend. And so by keeping it on here, I am able to forward this to SCAG, who then will extend the invitation to the representative.

But she's not the delegate, so how do we list it on this? That's all I'm asking.

Okay, I can change how it's listed.

But I'm asking you now, how is it? Do you know? It is listed as delegate. So we still keep her as a delegate? Yes. Even though she's not the primary?

And during the General Assembly, you do have... Correct. Both cities have voting rights. Correct. And for full transparency as well, I... Gave up the seat. This one I didn't give up myself, but I allowed or opened up the chance for Merino Valley. Right.

Well, we do alternate, but we hadn't done that in the last couple of years. Did you want to make a comment?

Yeah. So for clarification, how long have they had it? Because before I served, I served and I was never the delegate. Merino Valley just had it. And it sounds like it kind of coincided when they were having... you know, their internal issues. And then we, we, and then, um, councilwoman Nava took over and she did a great job, but how long, like, I don't know if we agreed. I thought we kind of talked about it, but we never, there's nothing.

Yeah. It's been somewhat org unorganized, um, in the past years. I know that they do open up a nomination period, um, and it is supposed to alternate between the cities.

Is it year by year or two years?

Every two years, I believe it is.

Every two years, okay. And how long, it's been about two years?

She did have it for two years. Okay. It's in accordance. We've been doing okay.

Yeah, this way, by leaving it on here, it allows me to send the minute order to SCAG so that they know who's been appointed.

Thank you very much. All right, moving on, Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency, that's served by Councilwoman Elizabeth Vallejo as the representative and Councilwoman Nava as the alternate. Good so far? Riverside County Transportation Commission, Mayor Vargas is the representative and Councilwoman Elizabeth Vallejo is the alternate. Riverside County Office of Aging Advisory Board, Councilman or Mayor Pro Tem Star-Rab is the representative. Tump Zone Committee, Mayor Vargas is a representative, Mayor Pro Tem Rabb is the alternate. Now we move on to City Council Working Committees. Ways and Means, Councilwoman Elizabeth Vallejo will serve as chair this year and her partner is Mayor Pro Tem Rabb. Public Works Committee will be chaired by Councilman Rabb this year and his partner is Councilman Corona. Parks and Recs Committee, Councilwoman Elizabeth Vallejo will be the chair and Mayor Pro Tem COUNCILMAN CORONA IS HER PARTNER. SCHOOL DISTRICT LIAISON COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN ELIZABETH VALLEJO WILL BE THE CHAIR AND COUNCILMAN CORONA IS THE PARTNER. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, COUNCILMAN MAYOR PORTEMP-BRAD WILL CHAIR THIS YEAR AND I WILL BE HIS PARTNER. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN NAVA WILL CHAIR THAT AND I WILL BE HER PARTNER. HOMELESS TASK FORCE COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN MARICEL EL NAVA WILL BE THE CHAIR, PARTNERED BY MAYOR, COUNCILMAN CORONA. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, ALSO KNOWN AS CDBG COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN VALLEJO WILL BE THE CHAIR, I WILL BE HER PARTNER. HUMAN RESOURCE COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN NAVA WILL BE THE CHAIR, MAYOR WILL BE THE PARTNER. BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE, COUNCILWOMAN NAVA WILL BE THE CHAIR, I WILL BE HER PARTNER. The Martin Luck Scholarship Foundation, Mayor Vargas is the chair, and Councilman Corona is the partner. And lastly, the multi-agency Ethanac Road and Ad Hoc Committee, Mayor Vargas and Councilman Corona. Any?

Are we just keeping the multi-agency Ethanac Road just open?

Yeah. Okay. We can always close it then. All right. Is everybody good with that? I didn't make mistakes. Okay. That is my motion. Yeah, it's my appointment, so I think that's the only, is that, Sunny? My appointments, I make the motion or not?

You can make the motion, yes.

Okay, so that's my appointments and my motion, and I have a second by, or I guess I got to push it. I'm sorry? Oh, public comment, yes. All right, Madam Clerk, do you have any requests to speak?

No. No, sir.

Did you want to speak? Did you feel out of slip?

You don't always request a slip, but I'll do it.

Go ahead.

So I wasn't planning on speaking today, but I heard something that definitely grabbed my attention, and I felt the need to speak up. So I want to respond directly to the comments made tonight by Councilmember Marisa Danava regarding her service at the Joint Power Authority related to the March Air Reserve. It was stated that the only reason for serving, well this is my understanding, on the JPA was to represent the community on a specific industrial project, and now that the project is no longer moving forward, there is no longer a reason to serve. That statement is deeply disappointing and frankly very concerning. The JPA is not a temporary task force. It is not a single project committee. It is a standing regional authority with long-term influence over land use, economic development, environmental projects, and inter-jurisdictional coordination, not just for today, but for decades to come. Serving on a JPA is about ongoing stewardship, not transactional participation. What concerns me the most is what this says about representation, especially gender representation. The JPA already lacks diversity. It is overwhelmingly male. When women are appointed to these bodies and then openly state that their participation is conditional, temporary, or project specific, it sends a troubling message. That female representation is optional, expendable, or only necessary when politically convenient. Women do not represent projects. Women represent people. Women represent community interests, public health, quality of life, and long-term impacts, including those that persist after a single development proposal disappears. If the city of Paris is serious about diversity, equity, and inclusion, then service on powerful regional bodies cannot be treated as something we walk away from when spotlight fades. This also raises a broader governance concern. If council members view JPA appointments as short-term assignments tying to specific outcomes, then who is ensuring continuity, institutional knowledge, and accountability to residents? Who is consistently asking how do these decisions affect surrounding neighborhoods? How do they impact women, families, and vulnerable communities? And who is advocating when no developer is in the room? Tonight, I am asking this council to reflect on three things. First, acknowledge that withdrawing from regional leadership roles because a project has gone undermines public trust. Second, recognize that losing female voices on this JPA is not incidental, it is governance failure that must be addressed. And third, commit to a policy of practice that ensures appointments to powerful commissions are based on long term responsibility, not short term convenience, and that diversity is treated as essential, not optional. Representation matters most when it is consistent, principled, and present, even when there is no immediate political gain. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, so I made my appointments. I have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Rabb. I need a second. Second by Councilman Corona. Please call the vote.

5-0 motion approved.

Thank you. 12-B is consideration to appoint Mayor Pro Tem for the term of 2026. And this is, we do this on a rotational basis. And the next person up is Councilman Corona. So my appointment is to appoint Councilman Corona as the Mayor Pro Tem looking for a motion. I have a motion by Councilwoman Vallejo, second by... Our current Mayor Pro Tem Ramb, please call the vote. Wait.

30 more seconds.

Hold on. I've got a public comment. Madam Clerk, do I have a request to speak on this one?

No, sir.

Okay. Go ahead. Call the vote. All right. Motion passes.

5-0. Motion approved.

Item 12, business items continued. I'M SORRY, WE'RE NOT A COUNCIL COMMUNICATIONS ITEM 13. THE ROTATION CHANGES A LITTLE BIT, SO WE'LL NOW START WITH COUNCILMAN RAB.

YES, THANK YOU, MAYOR VARGAS. I WANT TO WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THANK EVERYONE FOR COMING OUT AND GIVING THEIR COMMENTS. TO ECHO SOME OF THE SITEMENTS, EXPRESSED DURING THE PUBLIC COMMENTS SECTION. YEAH. I THINK THIS HAPPENED LAST TIME, TOO, WHEN I WAS TALKING. I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR. I'D LIKE TO DIRECT STAFF TO START REVIEWING THE PROCESS OF WHETHER OR NOT THE CITY, WHAT STEPS WE CAN TAKE TO MAN OR AT LEAST streamline or, sorry, prohibit AI data centers. I do believe that they will be the next big thing, and I do think they fall under the ambit of the warehouse moratorium, so we do have time on it. And it's not particularly urgent. I just, maybe an update in the spring, potential ordinance, late summer, early fall. I do think that they are going to be a big issue of our time. They were something that probably weren't on most people's radar two, three years ago. But I think the development of AI, the use of AI over the last two years in particular, the growth of AI is going to be an issue, not only in the city of Paris, but any other area in the Inland Empire. that has large tracts of empty land. And I just want to confirm that those will be included under the moratorium. I don't want the light industrial areas being reverted to AI data centers. But I think if we can look into that, I think it's going to be an effort issue in terms of the stress it places on our grid, our electrical grid, along with the water usage for AI data centers. So if we can look into that now that we have the moratorium in place.

Thank you.

Consulman Vallejo.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to wish everyone a happy new year, and I hope everyone is rested and feels great for the new year. I also want to let residents know, because this is a very difficult time of what is going on with the world, but please, if you need any help regarding ICE raids or anything, just please contact TODAC. Also, if you're too scared to do that, please contact RISE Paris, because every non-profit organization that came here, they all talk and they all collaborate together, so if you're too scared also please also reach out to us because we are here to help you and we are here to protect you as much as we can so please stay informed please stay please stay um engaged and uh make sure that that you guys all stay safe out there thank you thank you mayor pro temp corona oh i skipped one sorry councilman nava

Thank you, Mayor. Happy New Year. And I'd like to thank everyone for tonight's very productive meeting of the year, our first meeting of 2026. And congratulations to our newly appointed Mayor Pro Tem Corona. And I also agree and definitely agree with the sentiments of Council Member Raab regarding the data centers. And I would also like to thank all of our speakers during tonight's meetings. We have several important issues currently happening in the face of our nation, in our city, and it's just very disencouraging to have another woman publicly make comments at tonight's meeting. I never take time to address or even follow through with that, but I just like to make note of that to my residents that you can tune into any one of our council meetings and you can see how I vote, how I have my pulse to community, and how I serve. And again, that time, we had an array of folks come in and demand that I serve. And we all have very, very, very busy schedules. We take time to serve in these seats, not because of whatever you may feel, but for me personally, my own personal... drive is to make sure that I stand right with my community and those are all the comments I will make and if the public comment would like to meet with me personally I am more than happy to do that but I do not agree with taking time out of all our busy schedules to drive a narrative that stands further from the truth so again I wish you all a happy new year and I look forward to several future productive council meetings thank you all thank you

All right, Councilman, our Mayor Pro Tem Corona. I'm going to have to get used to that now.

Me too. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. I do want to wish everybody a Happy New Year. You know, I think 2025 was very productive. It looks like 2026 is also becoming a productive year. With the rain that we recently had, we saw, you know, potholes happening and and certain areas kind of dealing with drainage issues. But I do want to thank our public works for working extra hard. I know they've been patching up potholes everywhere. There's still plenty. I'm sure the residents see them all the time. If you see them, please let our public works know. Go on our city app and just make us aware of it. I do want to thank Mayor Pro... Councilman Rab for serving a great year. This is my third year following him as Mayor Pro Tem, so it's great to see a great example. I also want to thank my colleagues for approving me. I went out last Saturday with our Fire Chief Scoville, and we walked around the area, just a couple streets in the area of Green Valley, and we were just knocking door to door to let the residents know that there's going to be a a temporary firehouse in the community of Green Valley. It's going to be located at 3012 Sawmill, and it's going to be in that area. It's not going to have a full-length fire truck, but there are going to be some larger trucks there. There will not be any sirens in the immediate neighborhood, but as soon as they leave the neighborhood, by law, they do have to turn on the The sirens for emergency. So we just want to let the residents know, all the residents that we spoke to, the few residents we spoke to, they were very happy about it. They were happy to have them there. Because for the most part, firefighters are good neighbors. And I'm sure you had time. Okay. And lastly, I do have a direction for our staff. In light of our... of our ongoing priorities of protecting our tax dollars for our residents. I would like to direct staff to bring back an item with recommendations on how to address and prevent a fiscal emergency. Also, I would like to direct staff to bring back a discussion item regarding or amending the cannabis ordinance to allow new applications for cannabis retail establishments. That's it, thank you.

Thank you.

All right. I'm going to shorten mine down. I know it's not late, but I'll still shorten mine down, but just focus on some good highlights. I did go to the La Finca restaurant re-grand opening. It's really good food there. If you haven't gone there, that's the old, that house was right, 6th and D Street. Fabulous food. And they are open six days a week now. I have to highlight our senior holiday jewelry showcase, and I want to acknowledge that Yolanda Tovar, who's sitting in our audience, she's the instructor for that class. I'm just so proud of our seniors and all the projects that they do, and she runs a really good jewelry class, and they had a great showcase this year. Employee recognition, we had a great, every year, our employee recognition service is outstanding. Trolley toy drive was a very big success this year. Shop with the cop, as always. I appreciate our sheriff's station for doing that. Breakfast with the Santa. Again, community service is doing a great job. And then I have to put, I want to reiterate when my Mayor Pro Tem talking about public works and what they're doing. And right now we are dealing with tumbleweeds. And we're getting a lot of complaints. We know they're out there, folks. The wind, and this wind really made a really big mess. There are some hot topic areas that we are addressing, and just bear with us. We'll get to them. And this is, so last year I got tied up, but this year I didn't. So tomorrow is the 14th. That's the First Lady's birthday, and I'm not sitting at a council meeting, so I just want to wish my dear wife A very happy birthday. All right, thank you everybody. With that, we're gonna move on to item 14, our city manager's report.

Thank you, Mayor. The city is excited to announce the city's first Paris Cultural Walk, which will take place on Saturday, January 24th, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and this will take place in the historic Paris Theater parking lot. This is in partnership with the 909 Open Market, so please join us for an evening of food, shopping, live music, and a kid's zone. And lastly, I want to announce that the Emergency Operations Division will host a CPR and first aid training, on January 24th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Council Chambers Building. That concludes my report. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Excuse me. Item 15 is adjourned. Unfortunately, we have two in memories of, and our first one is for our dear, beloved fire apparatus engineer, Mr. Danny Cook. who died in the line of duty fighting a structure fire in the Nuevo area on December 31st, 2025. Danny served at the Station 90 fire station. And also a memory of Regina Faye Landers Killian. She is the sister of former member councilman and Mayor Al Landers, who served our city council at one time, who passed away on December 24th. So... Our thoughts and prayers are with both families. And with that, we are adjourned, folks. Have a great New Year's. And our ending time is 8-12. Thank you.