City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. I'd like to call the meeting of the City Council, the closed session. We have one public comment. Mr. Andrew Coleman.

Good evening, Council, Mr. Mayor. I come before you to speak on your closed session discussions with the negotiations team. We had our first counter from the city last week, and we were actually very disappointed with the position the city came in at. We were told by your guys' negotiator that the city had said that all priorities were into wages, that the city had told him that health care was not on the table, that everything needed to go into wages at this point. We had provided 33 proposals to him. He decided to counter, even though he said he'd do a full counter, to 10 of the items. So we didn't have very good movement. We feel as a group myself and the negotiating team that the city is stalling and not working with us. And we're asking you to give insight. I know you're getting an update today regarding the status later during public comment. We'll have our members come and speak why this is a priority through some of the discussions. Your negotiator said he. Told us his final authority as of right now, I know based on what he said, and I feel like he's telling the truth that he's going to ask for additional authority. At this point, wages are a priority for our group, but also health care health care is critical in this time. We all live in this economy. We all know how the prices are rising. We need to prioritize this across the board Our members are ready to prioritize that and they'll be speaking towards that in public comment later today for you But I wanted to come before you guys went in and spoke with him just to let you know that We do need to put some investment into the employees We do need to not only invest in the infrastructure of this city but also the employees that maintain that infrastructure and one of those things is prioritizing health care and As well as the wages you guys have done a salary survey and you guys have that data. You guys came out of pocket to do that. You've invested a lot of money and knowing that knowledge and we need to take that. Position that you need to retain these employees that you currently have and. To do that, you have to show them some dignity and respect and that's through wages. Excuse me at market value. So I ask that when you go back and speak with the negotiator now that you guys work on the authority so that you are able to prioritize your employees and show that respect and dignity to them. And thank you. I look forward to speaking later in the regular session.

OK, Madam Moderator, do we have any public comment for closed session?

I see no public comment at this time, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. Okay, Madam City Attorney, what do we have on our docket?

Thank you, Mayor. We have two items. Conference of Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation, Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.91, two pending litigation cases, Maldonado v. City of Residence et al., U.S. District Court, Central District, Case No. 525, CV 02169, SSS, MAAX. The second pending litigation item is Maldonado v. Redlands Police Department et al., San Bernardino Superior Court, case number CIV-SB-2403830. And the last item is Conference of Labor Negotiators pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6, Agency Negotiators John Beck-Keat, Jay Triniman, Janice McConnell, and Jorge Castillo. The employee organizations, Redlands Association of Department Directors, Redlands Association of Management Employees, Redlands Association of Mid-Management Employees, Redlands Association of Safety Management Employees, Redlands Association of Fire Management Employees, Redlands Police Officers Association, Redlands Professional Firefighters Association, Redlands Civilian Safety Employees, and Teamsters Local 1932 Redlands Chapter.

All right, thank you. We stand in recess till closed session, or open session at six, thank you. Good evening. I'd like to reconvene the city council meeting and I'd ask our Mayor Pro Tem for the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance will be done by the Smiley Elementary School.

Thank you, Mayor. If you'd please stand as we do this invocation. If you have non-religious headwear, if you would please remove that. And join me in prayer. We gather today with heavy hearts, mindful of the attack on the Islamic Center of San Diego, where three innocent people lost their lives in a place of worship and peace. We hold their families in our thoughts and honor the memory of a security guard described as heroic, a man who gave his life protecting children and staff in their most vulnerable moment. May we as a community recommit ourselves to the principle that hate has no place among us, that every person of every faith deserves to feel safe in their house of worship, in their neighborhood, and in their city. As we take up the work of this council today, may we be guided by compassion, by courage, and by a deep respect for one another's humanity. Let our actions here reflect the kind of community we choose to be, one that stands together against violence and hatred, amen. And I believe we have Smiley Elementary for our, come on up for the pledge.

Good evening, everyone. Please remain standing and face the flag. Put your hand over your heart. Ready, begin. 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.

Everybody good? Yeah. Okay. Got a window? Right here, okay?

All right.

Ready? One, two, three. One more.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Okay. All the parents.

All right. Good job, students. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

All right. Great job, students. Next on our agenda is our closed session report. Madam City Attorney.

Thank you, Mayor. For all items on the closed session agenda, there was no reportable action, and that ends the closed session report.

Okay. Now I'll turn it over to Mayor Pro Tem Mark Shaw.

Thank you, Mayor. This evening we have one presentation, and it's from the Redlands Bicycle Classic Committee. As you know, the city is a sponsor of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, and there's a presentation that will be made by Mr. Scott Welsh, who is the communications director. And with him is Eric Reiser, Dan Rendler, Brian Zander. And this year's, I believe we have the presenting sponsor, Mr. Jeff Padgett here as well to join us. And then I see Sean Wilson as well. So if you guys would come up, I know Scott's got a few words and then we'll do a photo down there. I believe there's a graphic as well. All right. All right, Mr. Welsh, all yours.

Thank you so much. Hold on. There's some really good stuff on that. Thank you so much. We are very honored to be here tonight on behalf of more than 300 volunteers, an executive committee led by our own Mayor Pro Tem Shaw, working year-round, whose shoulders we stand on, to produce the longest continuously running professional stage race anywhere in the United States. 40 years since 1985, which is a remarkable feat for an event anywhere. And we're here to say thank you. Thank you to the city of Redlands for truly being the original creator and certainly a true partner at every step of this historic annual event. And so first, thank you to city council, city management, our police and fire departments, our hardworking facilities and community service workers, aka Teamsters. I didn't know that would happen. And really, thank you for your enthusiastic support for an event that is a world-class sporting event, but one, as we always like to say, is so much more than a bike race. We are often asked, how does this impact the local community and how many people attend? Why do we get fees waived for an event like this? And thanks to city leadership, In the last few years, we know through technology how many people are there. And they wisely introduced technology. And we determined that there were 30,000 people in Redlands over that weekend. 9,000 Redlanders and 21,000 people from out of town, which is remarkable for any event. And it's a fantastic tourism number. And that even includes raining partially on Sunday. So we're very excited about that, to have that technology. So thanks to the city for employing that. And I might add, we invite folks from out of town to come to Redlands. When we do, they spend money. They frequent our restaurants, our bars, and retail shops. The Bike Classic is good business for Redlands. And there are a few facts and figures that are on the graphic that I will paraphrase. It's a little bit hard to read that. But this year, we had 188 pro men racers from 26 men's teams, 142 women in the pro peloton, which is a record for us that we are extraordinarily proud of. And it's remarkable for any bike race anywhere at any level. And that came from 22 women's teams, 236 amateur racers raced on the course, 659 youth races, and we even added new categories for one and two year olds and a special needs student category from ages one to 17. 270 participated in the newly formed Legends Fonda, which is the recreation ride that rode all over different courses all over our community and a little bit outside. And we even had 393 runners come to the Redlands Bike Classic 5K. Imagine that. Almost 400 runners came to a bike race. I would be the other way around. But 400 runners came, and thanks to the incredible leadership of local teacher, Mr. Brian Zander. Where's Brian? There's Brian. As the media director, I'm very proud of the media that we both produce and attract. We have a local social media team that delivered 2.4 million views during the race week. It's remarkable. And a few days before that. We had 450 radio commercials, eight regional digital billboards that had 1.2 million impressions overall. The Redlands Community News created a custom program that was delivered to 30,000 local homes, all inviting people to come to Redlands and the Redlands Bicycle Classic. A remarkable feat. In addition to that, one of the hallmarks of our event is that we house local riders. Professional is just a term used for bike racers. Many of them don't make much money. They may get a free bike, so they need a place to stay. And 87 local families opened up their homes to house 375 riders, which is tremendous. And this race wouldn't happen without that kind of support. My favorite part of the week and with great impact on the local community are the school visits where we ask the pro teams to conduct assemblies at local elementary and middle schools. And the message is healthy food and exercise positive. Thanks to the hard work of Michelle and Dan Rendler, who have shepherded that program for many, many years, we executed 41 school assemblies and saw more than 12,000 local kids with a positive message. Pretty fantastic. In closing, none of this is possible without the local support of terrific sponsors like Servpro of South Redlands, Team Jeffrey Padgett, who stepped up when we had a presenting sponsor for many years. who's still part of it, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, now Yajavatam, are still supporting sponsors. But in addition to that, the Community Alliance Medical Group, Arrowhead Orthopedics, Redlands Community Hospital, Toyota Redlands, and Yajavatam still involved, formerly San Manuel, and of course, the city of Redlands. And so we're here to say thank you. We couldn't do it without you. And so now we'd like to present you with a little token of our appreciation. It just happens to be right here. So if you all would come down for a photo opportunity.

That'd be great. Daniel, get a photo over there.

Yeah, Paul. I'm one of the short ones. How about Dan? Dan, you can go right here. We'll slide over. Yeah, there you go. That work?

That's perfect.

Okay, next we'll go to our public comment. The first speaker I have is Robin Leif. Leif, thank you. So there are three lights on the podium there.

Yeah.

When you get to the yellow, time to wrap it up and then the red will come on.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay. Hey, my name is Roberta Lafelt, Robin Lafelt, and I've been here before about the Boys and Girls Club. I was going to come here and talk about how the wall is too short. The place wasn't built for the way that it was used. If it was used the way that it was built, we wouldn't have a problem. But they have now made that the hub of their Riverside-San Bernardino IE area. Okay, still using this little bitty facility. Okay. The walls are supposed to be six to eight feet tall just for the noise, not counting the lights that are wrong. Their lights are supposed to be down and in. They're out. They're on tall posts. I can't believe I'm still talking about the lights. The amount of noise. The not school bus... They're school buses, but they're from American Student Transport, so all of these other kids are being brought down. My thing is I wanted to talk about that stuff, but then I found out that the three years they have made us the most miserable, their revenue has gone from $6 million to $15 million. There is no reason when they have that kind of money for us to be put out for the Boys and Girls Club in the way that they want to restructure themselves. This has been ridiculous. These are multi-generational families in these houses, and we're being daily, even on the weekends when they're not there, affected by their misuse of this property. The city is responsible. You guys rent to them. They aren't following their own rules for how they're supposed to be in a residential area. I brought you some pictures. I brought you some graphs that showed you that financial growth. There's a house right next door that's vacant right now that's for sale. How about we spend some of that money and we start with some parking? There's a place on the edge. They added that fence. On the north side, half of the grass is dead and half of the grass isn't dead. I can only assume that they're expecting to extend out to five feet within that fence. I'm begging you, please, put a moratorium on any kind of growth in programs or for the physical assistance. facility until the neighborhood issues have been addressed this is a travesty that we have been so put out in this neighborhood that we call home well they're more than doubling their revenue at our expense the city you got to step up man you've been you brought them this monster into our neighborhood and left us to deal with it so The people that live right next door, she has health problems, she's got a toddler, and the wall doesn't even go to the bottom of their lights, to the bottom of their windows, so that means all that noise is coming right there. How can they have any kind of life of value there? Would that happen daily? We've got a gardener, they have artificial grass, they have hardly any grass. He's there with gas equipment for four hours every Saturday. There's not even enough. He saves work. So he has something to do. That place is so mismanaged. And thank you for the gentleman that gave me their seats right away. I so appreciate it. Thank you. That's my phone number because of my age. Listen, somebody called me at eight that next day, but if they leave me a message so I know that I can answer that particular call, because I would love to speak to you guys. I'm begging for more time.

Thank you. Thank you for checking that box. Next up is Andrew Coleman.

Good evening, Council and Mr. Mayor. I appreciate the opportunity to speak again. My name is Andrew Coleman. I'm the Teamsters business agent representing the Teamsters of the City of Redlands. We're here to ask the City Council to bargain in good faith with us. We've come to the table, we're coming to the table every time in good faith and we feel like your Chief Negotiator is extending and playing games and pushing an agenda. We actually don't feel he's telling us, he's pushing your guys' agenda that you're going to put money into salaries but nothing else, so no health care, no other items. Yeah, maybe at the end of the road we can talk about some of that stuff, but his direction is clear. For us, the priority is dignity and respect at work. You guys spent a lot of money on a class and comp study that gave you data and gave us data that the average employee is 12.5%. under market paid in the city. And we asked before going into negotiations for the city to rectify that issue. We were told no, we'd address it in bargaining. We're at the table now and it's not being addressed in bargaining. It's not fair to these people that come and work every day for this city to make it the nice place that it is that has events like this bicycle classic that has residents that really love where they live and work. And these people before you here, standing here, deserve dignity and respect at work. And that comes with being paid at the market rates. That comes at not having to worry about having to buy groceries or healthcare. And that's what the position you guys are pushing them into. So we're asking you to increase the authority as well as give direction to your negotiator that he needs to prioritize those things for these members. They deserve it. They have a right to it, and they deserve to have that dignity and respect at work. You guys did the survey. Just please honor the data of your own consultant. Please understand, you guys are professional people. You've been around this for a long, long time. You are insurance individuals. You understand this whole concept, and we need to prioritize that for these members. So I appreciate your time tonight. Please take that into consideration. We're working with you. We're going to continue to work with you, but now you have to work with us. Thank you.

James Estrada.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, council members and city staff. I'm James Estrada, proud city employee, proud Teamster member and representative for the Teamsters right here that I'm representing this evening behind me. I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to come back up here this evening to talk on this topic. The whole point of this negotiation as part of it was to avoid what happened three years ago, but yet here we are again. Same exact issues, pretty much. So I ask all you council members, are you not aware of the offers that are being made at the table? We find them disrespectful. We find them offensive. That being myself, my members, your city employees that are working for the city day in and day out to keep this city running. You guys have been offering 2S0 in healthcare, and to us, that's a clear sign that health of your employees is just not a priority here for your team. And livable wages and healthcare is a priority for us. We made that clear to your team numerous times on a few different meetings that we've already had. The salary study survey is another thing that we're still mind-boggled about. We're not sure what happened. You guys invested money in the salary study survey, and I'm just not sure of any city that's ever invested money in a salary study survey so publicly to their employees to put hope out there that maybe there was going to be a difference. And you showed us that, you know, where we're behind, some possibly went up to 34%. And there has been zero effort that we've seen on this end to do that. I'm not sure why no one's been tasked on this end to do that assignment. That would help clear up a lot of these issues that's happening right now in negotiations. But the opportunity is still there. It's still not too late. You guys have that data. You guys can still make the difference. You guys can still talk with the team that's negotiating with us. And you guys can be that change. You have that option right here. I'm putting that out there here for everybody to know. And I guess we'll hear about it at the next negotiations if that's something you're taking into consideration. What else do I have here? At the end of the day, you know... Again, negotiations, like I said, they're offensive. I've been here for 20 years, and I'm embarrassed to tell my family the offers that you guys have been giving me. I'm a 20-year employee. I clean sewer lines for this city. I'm proud to do it. You guys see me on my public outreach. I'm out there. We're engaging. These teamsters are engaging in the community. And the fact that... We're offered, what we're offered is just, I'm just blown. I'm just totally offended by it. So at the end of the day, these actions are representing that. They're representing how we feel. They're representing what your team's bringing us. We're not happy. A lot of us, none of us are happy at this point in time now. And that's exactly, like I said, what these actions are about. So it really feels like the city at this point in time is drawing a line in the sand. And that's becoming very apparent to us. And I'll leave you on this like I did last time. I encourage you guys to invest in your city employees like you guys have invested in city infrastructure. Thank you.

Eli Salazar.

Well said, James. Good evening, Mario, Mayor, fellow council members. My name is Eli Salazar, and I'm a proud city employee. I work for the, I'm the supervisor for the water department. I've been with the city for 10 years now. Also had the pleasure of working with you, Mario, until you so graciously retired, left us all behind. But as city workers, we deserve dignity, respect, fair wages, and affordable health care. And we're asking that the city start prioritizing the people who keep this community going, like the water division that provides a special resource to its community, and all the other departments that are represented here today. So thank you.

Ricky Gonzalez.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and city staff. My name is Ricardo Gonzalez, and I am proud to work for the collection as maintenance worker for the city of Redlands. I've been working for five years. The city deserves respect, fair wages, affordable health care, and I'm asking the city to start prioritizing the people who keep the city running, and I am a Teamster.

Josie Lopez.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Josie Lopez. I'm a new employee in the City of Redlands. I'm currently studying law. I came into this process wanting to better understand how compensation decisions are made and whether employees are being paid fairly. and compensation to surrounding cities. The city spent 192,000 of taxpayers' money on a professional classification and compensation study comparing Redlands pay structure classifications and overall compensations to nearby agencies. The study found that Teamsters employees are paid on average 12% less than employees in comparable cities. What is difficult to understand is why the study is considered credible when portions of this supports management positions such as claims that our benefits may be stronger than nearby agencies but is suddenly dismissed as informational only when it highlights the employees are underpaid. If the city invested significant public funds into the study, then findings should be acknowledged fairly and consistently, not selectively depending on what side they support. As someone newer to the organization, a single mother, and someone currently studying law, this raises concern about equity, transparency, and employee moral. I truly enjoy working for the city and value the opportunity to be part of this organization. All I and many other employers want is a fair contract that reflects the value of work being done every day. I have also learned the importance of consistency, fairness, and accountability in decision making. Employees should feel that the information gathered through the professional and costly study is being used objectively, especially when it directly impacts people who keep the city running every day. Thank you.

Jocelyn Butters.

Good evening, council members, city staff. My name is Jocelyn Butters, and I have proudly served this city for the past 14 years. I genuinely enjoy the work I do and value the opportunity to support my department every day. I stand here today asking for equity, respect, and recognition for the working class employees who keep this city running. The city has known for the last three years that negotiations were approaching and that wage adjustments would eventually need to be addressed. This city prides itself on being fiscally responsible and has remained financially healthy for many years. Because of that, I hope that the city gives careful consideration to the areas of this contract that have the greatest impact on employees and their families. fair wage increases, increased medical contributions, improved tuition reimbursement, among many other important items, and recognizes these are not simply as expenses, but as meaningful investments in the people who serve the city of Redlands. I would also like to highlight the tuition reimbursement disparity as an example of where meaningful investment and employees can make a lasting impact. Mid-management receives $5,000 annually for educational advancement. while Teamsters employees receive $2,000. Employees who are working hard to better themselves, earn degrees, and grow professionally should not be limited simply because of classification. There should be a pathway whether through a sponsorship opportunity, scholarship style assistance, or another allowable program to help bridge that gap for Teamster employees pursuing higher education. The city has demonstrated time and time again that when something is considered a priority, resources can be found to support it. Investing in employees is not a loss, it is retention, it's stability, it's institutional knowledge. Right now, too many talented employees view the city as a stepping stone because they know they can leave immediately and earn more elsewhere. The constant turnover costs the city time, money, productivity, and morale. Competitive compensation and benefits are not just about fairness, they are smart business decisions that strengthen an organization long term. At the end of the day, the people making these decisions are not the ones struggling with rising medical premiums, tuition costs, and inflation. Teamsters employees are not asking for an outrageous increase or an unrealistic demand. They are asking to be compensated fairly for the work they do every day, to be able to afford the gas to get to work, provide for their families, keeping up with rising medical costs, and live with the dignity that should come from serving this city. We're simply asking for the same respect and fair treatment already being provided in comparable neighboring cities. This workforce has earned that respect and I urge the city to demonstrate that it values all the employees and the essential roles that we all play in this organization. Thank you.

Eric Brazel.

Good evening, council members, city manager, directors. My name is Eric Brazil. I've worked for the city for nine years, first as a ground maintenance worker in the parks department, and I proudly serve as a water treatment operator at the drinking water treatment plants and the wells. We provide a consistent good product as far as the water is concerned. I think you all might agree. When you drink the water, it tastes wonderful, doesn't it? So I'd like to ask that you realize that city workers deserve respect, fair wages, and affordable health care. And I'm asking the city to start prioritizing the people who keep this community running. One thing I do want to say is consistency is very important as far as staffing. We don't like to lose people once we've invested in what they can do. And the technical aspects of learning the job that I've started at to where I'm at now, I can really see how important that is. So consistency in the small crew that we have that do what we do is very important as well as I'm sure it is in every other department. So if you can... see that and agree that that is very important. That's why we're all here today asking for that respect and that dignity and your recognition of what we do. Thank you.

Jesus Marquez.

Jason Leen.

You almost got my name right. It's Leinen.

All right, good evening, y'all. I'm gonna do my best to beat that little yell light. So my name is Jason Leinen. I've been working with the city of Redlands, probably coming to work every day for that man right there.

Where you at, James?

Somewhere? There you are.

Been with him for the better part of eight years. I'm a Mr. Clutch, like I said, so if you don't know what that means, we keep the yucky water going where it needs to go every single day. And as of right now, we're getting up at 3.30 in the morning in the office at 4, at the door by 4.30, no later than. So we have this issue with the proposals coming in. The wages are not what we want them to be. Plainly to say, there's kind of like a slap in the face and I kind of agree with that. Us city workers, myself, and everybody else sitting around here that we're in a team church like I am, we deserve respect, we deserve fair wages, and above all else, healthcare. Isn't that what it is all about? So, I'm just asking you guys behind the bench to consider that when it comes down to the negotiations done by James and Ricardo and almost me, I almost made the bargaining team. We're just asking to do what's necessary to keep the city running. Those invest their time during the week, getting up at four o'clock. We do six parks, water treatment, wastewater collections, every single department, including yours, Mario. So with that being said, I'm a Teamster, and the rest of these chairs say the same thing. Thank you.

Michael Gonzalez.

Good evening, Mayor, good evening, City Council. My name is Michael Gonzalez, and I've worked for the city for three years. I'm very proud to be part of this organization, and I'm proud to be part of this wastewater collection team, as you see back there. fine group of hardworking gentlemen, and like Jason was saying, we're usually the first ones to be out there assisting different departments around the city, and I believe city workers deserve respectful wages, affordable healthcare, and I'm asking the city to start prioritizing the people who keep this community running. Thank you.

Clemente Lozano.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Clemente Lozano. I proudly worked as a equipment mechanic for three years for the city of Redlands. City workers deserve respect, fair wages, and affordable healthcare. And I'm asking the city to start prioritizing the people who keep this city running. Thank you.

Aurelio Munoz.

Good evening, council. Good evening, mayor.

Good evening, staff. My name is Aurelio Munoz. I proudly work for the city for about a year and a half. I work as a program A2. City workers deserve respect, fair wages, and affordable healthcare. And I'm asking the city to start prioritizing the people who keep this community running. Thank you.

Ed Sherman.

Good evening. I don't know how much of a difference it's going to make. My name is Ed Sherman. I'm a state certified millwright. I came over to work for a city that I've learned to love being here in California. as a wastewater treatment plant mechanic, which I love doing, but it's my understanding that the pay for my position is 20 to 25% under scale. which I think is wrong. With inflation coming, I don't see anything good coming from that. I don't see this heading in a good direction. To be able to afford gasoline, groceries, your medical, it's getting expensive. I've got a couple of kids and a family to provide for. I know you guys probably don't think about that because you guys are well taken care of, but some of us are struggling in this economy. and I don't want anybody to struggle. So, the same thing, I'm here to say the same thing, that the city workers need respect, affordable healthcare, and at least wages that are comparable, right, so that you don't get a turnover. All right, thank you.

Jordan, help me out with the last name, Levano.

Good afternoon, city council members and the public. My name is Jordan Duranko. I'm 26 years old and the youngest member of the plant mechanic team for the city of Redlands. Every single day, I drive 45 minutes each way from Omani to serve the city. I have sacrificed my time, my energy, and my labor for Redlands. I want to be proud of the work that I do here, but today I do not stand before you with pride. I stand before you with a profound sense of anger, frustration, and a deep concern for the future of the city and for the people who live in it. The City of Redlands has trapped itself in a dangerous, short-sighted, and unstable cycle. because of systemic low wages and a low lack of competitive benefits for its workforce. The city has earned a shameful reputation in our industry as a training ground. New employees come here, we train them, they gain their licenses, but gather invaluable experience. and then immediately leave for neighboring cities that actually respect, value, and retain their workers. When I hear Redlands dismissed as nothing more than a temporary training ground, it makes my blood boil. The employees standing behind me today are not disposable. We are not nameless faces in boots and uniforms who can just be plugged into a spreadsheet and easily replaced. Look at us, we are the human beings who keep this city functioning every single second of every single day. We maintain the parks where your families play to ensuring that every resident has safe, clean drinking water the exact moment they turn on their tap. Let me be entirely clear about the weight of that responsibility. Our team is directly accountable for operating and maintaining 18 reservoirs, two surface water plants, 22 potable wells, 44 booster pumps, and over 400 miles of pipeline running through seven different pressure zones, delivering an average of 27 million gallons every single day. This is not minor work. This is critical life-sustaining infrastructure that requires precision, expertise, and dedication. And yet, our most experienced veteran employees continue to walk out the door because the city flatly refuses to invest in them. What happens when all the veteran employees are finally gone? What happens when a major emergency system failure or public health crisis hits? And there is absolutely no one left who knows this massive, complex system. What happens when decades of institutional knowledge walk out that door forever because workers are sick and tired of being undervalued and ignored? The answer is simple. The public will suffer the consequences. You can vote to invest millions of dollars into hardware and infrastructure upgrades, but let me remind this council of the fundamental truth. Without experience, dedicated employees to operate and maintain those systems, your multi-million dollar investments mean absolutely nothing. Heavy equipment alone does not keep the city running. Skilled, respected human beings do. Thank you for your time.

David Giannini.

Mayor, council, directors, my name is David Giannini and I proudly worked as a mechanic for the city for going on 18 years. The two gentlemen that just were ahead of me right now, I work with closely up, Ed, specifically. I just hired him on six months ago, well, between six or eight months. Just like the point that he made, his position in neighboring communities pays close to 25% more than he's getting paid here. How can I keep a valuable, skilled guy like that with me with opportunities like that right next door? You know, that's the challenge that we face every day. Yeah, I'm the foreman down at the wastewater plant as far as maintenance and mechanic maintenance. But I just wanna reiterate one thing. I know everyone here, myself, everyone behind me, takes pride in that moniker of Redlands being the jewel of the Inland Empire. And I just want to just hammer home that everyone up here does not fail to value the workforce This workforce is what makes that jewel shine. Thank you.

Bruce Laycook?

Good evening City Council staff members. I know you'll be upset that I'm not gonna talk about labor and wages, okay? I'm here to ask you to reconsider your pursuit of the Coyote Aviation lawsuit. You're spending money fighting a man, Gil Brown, who has been a valued member of our community, an important member of the teaching staff in our city for decades, and you're spending city money for what I deem, and again, this is my opinion, an unjust cause. You can stop this fight, you can settle amicably, and you can stop spending money on a lawsuit that, in my opinion, should never have been started. Thank you.

Stephen Rogers.

Honorable Mayor Saucedo, Redlands City Council, Steve Rogers, Church Street. I was at the county meeting earlier today, and I don't know, maybe you guys watched the county meeting today, some of you. But I spoke about... Something I got in the mail, and I'm gonna speak about it here, and you'll understand the reasons in a little bit, if you don't already. I got this mailer from a gentleman, Ryan Hutchison, who is trying to become the next auditor, controller, treasurer, tax collector. gentleman here. So the way you do it in San Bernardino County is you put out a hit piece on the existing guy and this good existing guy is Ensign Mason who happens to be, I mean they don't talk about it in this at all, Some people here know, the city manager, the police chief know, and I'm sure the council people do too, that he also serves in a role as the fraud, waste, and abuse hotline for the county. And so, basically, as the police chief and the city manager and the city attorney are well aware, and the council, I've made multiple complaints to the county about certain development projects, and basically, what has happened is that now they're trying to kick out of his position and bring this guy in, that's their way of trying to solve this problem that they have now, which is that the county's favorite developer, is the one that the city has given all these favors to and essentially given them property, which was the old super Walmart site that never got developed. The city gave that property to Diversified Pacific And now, how many projects do you have entitled on that? You have started with the Tennessee Village, but anyway, I appreciate your listening to me. I'll talk more about this in a later item, which I feel is relevant. And I would just hope that the I now understand why the city manager didn't like me copying the county. Thank you. Okay.

Next is our consent calendar. I have a request to pull item I-8.

Is that the only one?

That's the only one.

Move approval of the balance of the calendar.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Item city clerk.

Councilmember Barrett.

Yes.

Councilmember Tejeda.

Yes.

Councilmember Davis. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw.

Yes.

Mayor Sacito.

Yes. Item I-8, this is approve a second amendment agreement with a counseling team international and the purchase order modification in the amount of $20,000 for the Redlands Police Department, Police Chief Tolbert.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. The item that you have before you is a second amendment to, as you stated, increase the amount by $20,000. This is for the Counseling Team International and is related to our mental health wellness checks. We are utilizing existing contracts through the Human Resources Department to implement these services and we'll bring the total to $53,400.

Thank you. I have a public comment or a comment on this agenda item. Mr. Stephen Rogers.

Mayor Salcedo, Reverend City Council, Steve Rogers, Church Street. I'm familiar with this contractor and I'm really concerned about the influence this contractor has in the county. And when I say that, this contractor is very political. And so I'm very weary about this situation increasing this contract because this first the owners of this company are so connected to the county and and the former sheriff that uh i feel there it may have some political connection uh and and furthermore what really disturbed me is when i was researching this gentleman that they're trying to get rid of or replace over here and would then head up the fraud, waste and abuse, I see that the Redlands Police Association is for some reason endorsing him. I want to know why. why the police association would endorse somebody like this if it isn't maybe because the consulting team international, that's part of the whole thing. And so I'm really concerned about the city following in the steps of the county and doing the same kinds of things as the county does. They get rid of people if they're the bearers of bad news, kill the messenger, that's the way it works. And just for your own information, and some of you I may share this with, some I won't, I presented them today with the history of the corruption in San Marino County, going back, 40 years, that's how long I've had to suffer with this stuff. You know, Mari knows a lot about it, and I was even wanting to bring it up to the former, it used to be SBPEA, but now it's the Teamsters, that back when I originally met you and talked to you, that you told me that I'd never work again in this county. Because I was former SPP EA which is now Teamsters and of course you were vice president of Teamsters while you were a city employee So I mean I have a lot of history about the corruption and the individuals here Think a little bit about these projects you approved out there and some maybe you just the Planning Commission approved because you have that way of doing things, too. So you guys better get it together because it's going to come crashing down.

Thank you.

Okay. Do you want to make a motion?

Certainly. I certainly support our mental wellness for our police officers. So with that, I move to approve a second amendment to the agreement and a purchase order modification in the amount of $20,000 with the Counseling Team International.

Second.

A motion and a second. Madam City Clerk.

Councilmember Barrett.

Yes.

Councilmember Tejeda.

Yes.

Councilmember Davis. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw. Yes. Mayor Sacito.

Yes. Before moving on to item J1, we have a request to pull item J2 for our future council. All right.

J2 will be continued to the next meeting.

Be continued to the next meeting. Thank you. J2 will be? Yes. Thank you. Okay, moving on to item J1. This is a discussion possible action relating to the Redlands downtown morning market hours of operation and future locations options. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw.

Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, members of council, this is an item that I asked to be put on here based on some complaints and some questions about the current morning market that occurs downtown in the parking lot adjacent to Ed Hales Park. that currently runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then that parking lot is tied up basically from early in the morning until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon when everybody gets out of there. So I wanted to bring it up for some discussion. You'll see that there's several options that are here. I just wanted to see if we can talk about First off, I'll frame this a couple different ways. I asked staff, and you saw an email from city staff, from the city manager, about who currently participates in the market. We have 24 vendors, I think it was, right now that are, I guess, regularly coming to that location. There is a second market that occurs at the Grove School. I'm not exactly sure what their hours are. But the one that's downtown, do you know what the hours are? Eight to 12. Okay. So there's one at the Grove School that goes on that's eight to 12. This one here, just for everybody's reference, we currently have zero vendors from the city of Redlands that participate in the market. There are three from Mentone. There are two from Highland. Everybody else is a little further out from that. coming all the way from the Los Angeles area to participate in the market. I stopped by two weeks ago at about 8 o'clock, so an hour before it technically opens. About half of it was set up. It was most of the produce vendors, fruit and vegetables. And there were people there that were already shopping. I stopped by this last Saturday about 10 o'clock, and there were, I think I counted, 18 people that were at the market doing some shopping or just kind of wandering around. When that gets set up, I noticed we had three recreation staff there, and then I know that we also used two staff to do the Meridian protective barricades, so they put them out and take them down. So each Saturday, we're looking at about... I think it was about five people out there that are on overtime. So we do have a cost expense to the city to put that on. I know we had talked before about whether or not that's something that we look to make money on. We look to break even. We can certainly ask the staff for more detail if it's a financial piece we want to look at. So a couple of the options are, number one would be merging this with the market that already exists at the Grove School, seeing if they want to take this on and just have one market in town. Another piece is to adjust the hours so that we can clear that parking lot a little bit earlier so that we can open that up for the downtown businesses as things kind of start to get a little bit more bustling around lunchtime. We don't have it as an option here. We talk about exploring alternative sites. I'll share one is there's that parking lot that the city already owns behind Hatfield between 7th and 9th. That could be a possibility. It wouldn't have the impact as far as from a parking standpoint. We would still need the city staff because it would need the barricades and whatnot. Um, so anyway, I throw those out as just is some ideas, uh, something for us to talk about and, and make sure that, you know, what we're doing is conducive to our downtown businesses, uh, allowing for parking downtown. We know parking is all, you know, it's, it's a common complaint down there. Um, and then, you know, do we fix it by moving it, adjusting hours or whatnot? So I opened that up for, for thoughts, comments. I don't know if we have any public comment on it.

Uh, yes, we do.

Okay.

So, but before we get to the public comment, I just want to kind of, I have had a lot of inquiries about some of the businesses downtown. Half of them like it, half of them don't like it. Half of them feel like the parking is not opening up soon enough for their businesses. Some of the businesses like the pedestrian walkway. people walking downtown, the viability. I think when it first started, the idea was to have local farmers and agricultures to be able to sell their goods and to promote Redlands farming and agriculture. With that, 24 vendors, the closest one is maybe Mentone. So I think it's gotten away from its kind of core mission or kind of core idea of really trying to promote local agriculture, local farming, fruits and vegetables. So there's been some discussion once the Christmas season, it moved to the Grove, and then it moved back. So there's a lot of discussion. I've been, you know, I've had a lot of different points of view on how to try to address this. Obviously, as Mayor Pro Tem outlined, the total expenses for this annual review is $93,000, and we have to subsidize that by $70,000. So that becomes quite expensive. a drain on our services, financial, but also our employees having to be there on every Saturday. So I think I would like to hear from some of the other members of the council and kind of see where they're at and any kind of information or things that you've been getting feedback from the businesses downtown before I open it up for public comment, and then we'll figure out what to do as far as an action.

Yeah, I was going to say, I am very interested in public comment and what they have to say. Like you, I've heard mixed feelings about the downtown market. Certainly, I take my son to music class down there on a Saturday, and it's nice. There's a whole crowd from music class that goes to the farmer's market. So I think that there's definitely a benefit to keeping it downtown. I go to the Grove Market almost every Saturday as well, and I think that it's nice to have markets in different parts of the city. I think that they both can thrive. And if the city is not the primary administrator of the market, I've heard that there are other groups who might be interested in taking it over as well.

OK. Anybody else before I open it up to public comment?

I'd just like to remind the council in the past when we looked at this, it was, you know, what do we do to try to bring back market night? And then market night was not feasible. It's something that was also a bigger drain on the budget than anything else. So we set out on market morning. and putting it in the parking lot. And so I am definitely concerned about the amount of parking that exists downtown right now with the construction that's going on. So I'm agreeable with whatever the council wants to do with respect to either relocating it or revisiting, maybe somebody taking it over, if that's in the best interest of this. So I'm open to anything.

Okay. I have one speaker, Evan Sanford, but Apparently you're not Evan, but the next best thing. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

So this will be clumsy and awkward, but I'll make it through it. I do have Evan's notes. Good evening, council members and staff. My name is Patrick Roskam. I am here on behalf of the Redlands Chamber of Commerce. I am the president of the board currently. And Evan had another event that he had to attend, so I wanted to speak to this. for us so there is some precedence for a chamber running a market night like the market night like this or a market event like this um claremont does something like this where they have taken it over and that is specifically what we wanted to speak to uh tonight is that option to have a third party take this over and take it off the city's hands um but So as you guys all know, we are well involved in the community and putting on different events throughout the community. Orange Drop, you know, cocktail competition, dog jog, all of these things. And we try to keep all of these things at a very high standard. So that's what we'll be looking to bring into this as well. So really that is... Mostly it. We're looking for that option to be able to put a proposal together for the city and for you guys to be able to review. That would obviously be the next step is something that you guys would have to see.

Patrick, just out of curiosity, if you guys did do it, would you have any idea where you would do it? Or would you still be looking for city support as far as like we do now with the barricades and that kind of stuff? Or would you guys find a place that's not on city property or that has vehicular access that would require...

I think we'd be looking at both options. Some of the places that are already in place and stuff like that, they've become known to be those places, but we're definitely open to looking at other places too. This is something that falls in line with our membership. We do have some of the local growers and farmers as members, and we'd love to be able to bring some of what the mayor was talking about back to that type of event.

I do have, since we're

Is that your, that's the extent of your public comment? I'm looking for option three. Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

So in that, I hope they get an opportunity to consider Industrial Parkway. It's a area of the community where it's just depressed right now. A lot of the activity that was on Industrial Parkway is now in the donut hole at the Mountain Grove. And so just putting that out there, looking at it as an option to relocate that somewhere else.

I just want to thank the chamber. I think that you all have a proven track record of very successful events and could be an amazing partner for the farmer's market. I actually didn't know that Claremont's chamber is running their farmer's market. Is that what you said? I happened to be at Claremont's farmer's market this past Sunday, and it was amazing. They shut down a street. They shut down Harvard Avenue in Claremont. The parking was a little tricky, I have to say, but the farmer's market was great. I'm in support of I guess it would be our option three to solicit proposals specifically in support of the Chamber's idea.

Mayor Pro Tem?

Were you going to say something?

Oh, I'm sorry.

I also concur. I think I like option three. Obviously been involved with the Chamber of Commerce for 40 plus years. As president twice, well, two and a half times. They do good work. And I think it would be nice to have them take it over. They're professionals. They know how to handle these things. And like I mentioned, other events they have from the dog jog to the orange drop, they do high quality work and they get people out.

So Councilmember Davis suggested originally before the Chamber spoke that there may be some other people that would be interested. So I'm certainly not opposed to soliciting if it ends up being the Chamber, if it ends up being somebody else. My question to staff would be, how long would a process like that take? And should we look to, if we're going to go that route, should we try to go ahead and do a time modification to get that parking lot opened up and then continue to explore the path of the third party piece? It's kind of like combining a couple together here, but.

As far as modifying the times of the parking lot and everything, that's solely within the council's purview. So if you wanted to take action in the meantime, you certainly could. We would need a little bit of time to put together the solicitation proposals, since we haven't really vetted that internally. But we could probably put something together within a few weeks, put it out for a few weeks to a month, and get it back, and then we'd need some direction from the council on how you would want to evaluate those. If you'd want to leave it solely up to staff, and then I would have staff to come up with that, or if the council wanted to be involved, you'd probably need to create a subcommittee for that. But within a few months, before the end of the summer, we could certainly have something arranged, I think.

I think that the earliest we would probably have anything functioning by a third party would be in the fall. I mean, I don't think that we would get there before that. I think that's reasonable, yes. And so the other piece of my hours part was as we come into the summer, it's getting pretty warm out there, and running this until 1 o'clock, it's pretty darn hot by 1 o'clock. So I would ask if the council would entertain making a change to the hours as we go through the summertime to the 7 to 11, and in the meantime, we go down the path of the solicitation of a third party looking to, from a long-term standpoint, as we get into the fall... transition that over and then it goes wherever it goes it may stay there we revisit all that is this kind of a follow-up once that's those options are presented to us by staff if that's something that sounds agreeable then i i i would agree i mean edwards mansion had one you know where edwards mansion this weekend and debbie ketchum ketchum

You know who I'm talking about.

Debbie runs that, and she's done very, very well. And she has it over at Edwards Mansion, plenty of parking over there. So I would, again, not have exclusive, but I would like to hear from her and see what she has to say, like obviously the Chamber of Commerce as well. But I think there's third parties out there who would be more than happy to take this over.

Yeah, I've heard of a few more as well. So I think a solicitation of proposals would be a good next step.

I agree with that.

Fair way to go about it. Yeah. So two things that I was hearing from the downtown businesses. Number one, the parking wasn't available as early as it would help them with parking for lunch or opening at 10 or 11. The other thing I heard was that, um, that they don't, they like the farmer's market morning market because it brings people downtown. So some of the businesses like it because it's people, you know, traffic walking, uh, doing downtown. So I would think that maybe option one and three would be kind of a direction that I would put out to my council members is, you know, change the hours. Hopefully that gets in there early, gets them out. They can, open up the parking and then explore near sites downtown. But I would try to find a location close to downtown and not take those folks that are coming downtown for the experience of a farmer's market and then staying around and, you know, patronizing some of the other businesses downtown. Because they do feel when it did go to the Grove during the winter, they saw a drop in a lot of their people coming to their businesses.

Certainly the easiest solicitation of proposals would be for that same location, for that parking lot. at hours that the council would approve. If we open it up to other areas, we would have to identify those areas probably and solicit for specific proposals because I think one of the goals from the city, and the council can give me direction on this, would be essentially for us to be out of it and maybe generate net income instead of the negative that we experience now. In other words, we provide the piece of property, we're essentially renting it to someone to put on a farmer's market and they handle everything else. And so it requires no staff time during the actual market, only the coordination really for them to use the property and for us to collect the fee, and then everything else is handled by the third party. We have been approached by... several parties, three of them mentioned tonight, about wanting to do something like that. So I think it might be popular. I think staff can look at and see if there's alternative sites to that parking lot that we may want to bring back and let the council know. What I might do is I could just say, we're going to explore the sites unless a council member wants to bring it back in an open meeting to discuss it. And then we'll see what the solicitations are and then come back with a recommendation.

So I think I can merge two of these options together and make a motion if we're on track with that. And it will give you that latitude because option three already talks about near downtown. So that could be where it's at. It could be the one behind Hatfield, if it's a city-owned. And if there's another one that you guys come up with that's city property, certainly that could be an option as well.

Or somewhere by the Chamber of Commerce.

Up the upper parking area right there. West State Street. This way there's parking underneath and there's parking... You mean on the parking deck?

At the parking structure? We can certainly leave that up to...

So what we may aim for is to try to find three viable sites, ask for proposals for all three from anyone who wants to do one, and then see which one, you know, seems might be the best solution for everyone involved.

Okay.

So with that, I will move to direct staff to adjust the current downtown morning market hours of operation to begin at 7 a.m. and by 11 a.m. with the corresponding parking lot closure to extend no more than one hour before or one hour after event hours. Further, I move to direct staff to explore alternative sites near downtown and solicit proposals for a third-party administration of a weekly farmer's market near downtown to begin in the fall of 2027. 2026, sorry, 2026. Second. All right.

get that? Madam City Clerk?

I got it. Okay. Councilmember Baric. Yes. Councilmember Tejeda.

Yes.

Councilmember Davis. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw. Yes. Mayor Saucedo.

Yes.

Just just to also be clear it may take us a few weeks to implement the new times to give the current vendors notice but we'll get that in place as soon as we can possibly. Understood. Thank you. We think it'll take about two weeks.

Okay. All right, moving on to item J3. This is a consideration of approval of a cooperative agreement with San Bernardino County Transportation Authority for the management and delivery of the construction phase of the Highland Redlands Regional Gap Connector Project. in the amount not to exceed $440,396, approval of a cooperative agreement with the City of Highland for sharing final design cost of the project in the amount not to exceed $57,850, and determination that these actions are exempt from the environmental review pursuant to Section 15061B3 of the state guidelines implementing the California Environmental Quality Act, Municipal Utilities and Engineering Director Heredia.

Yes, good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tems, Council Members, staff and the public. The Highlands Redlands Regional Gap Connector Project is a 2.85 mile bicycle facility that will extend from Citrus Valley High School in Redlands to Arroyo Verde Elementary School in the City of Highland. When completed, this project will establish a continuous dedicated path between the two cities. but also eventually it will connect to the Santa Ana River Trail, which ends in the Pacific Ocean. So this item is for the approval of the final design by the City of Highland, and SBCTA is the lead agency to complete the construction in the amounts as stated.

Is that your report?

Yeah. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you for that report. Before we get to any deliberations, I have one public comment. Mr. Stephen Rogers.

Honorable Mayor Salcedo, Redland City Council, Steve Rogers, Church Street. Okay, this project I guess is already started and so I was just looking at the agreements that they're asking for now. There's nothing in these agreements about the environmental documentation. I'm really concerned about that. It says something in the staff report that they've, you know, got a clearance from California Fish and Wildlife or something like that, but This is a new trail, if you will. And we just got $2 million for the project from Pete Aguilar, which is federal money. What that means for a project is you got to not just do CEQA, you got to do NEPA. And SPCTA, they don't know how to do any of it. So basically, I'm really concerned about this project. I'm familiar with the city engineer in Highland, and so I might be able to help you guys out in getting it going in the right direction. But I'll tell you right now, if... SPCTA is planning on, you know, just doing a negative deck or something like that, and already they've decided they have to reserve area for this that they want to keep as native habitat. So, you know, there are some significant elements to this that need to be addressed in an EIR EIS. And it's going to have to be that because now you have $2 million in federal funds and you can't get one drop of federal funds and not also have to do NEPA. Thank you.

Okay, I have another speaker slip, Mr. Bruce Laycook.

I understand that you're going to be approving the expenditure of some money. Does that mean that after the design is completed that you will then have another vote to approve the funding, or does this vote approve both the design and the future funding? I'm not clear on that.

Okay. Does that complete your public comment?

No.

Okay.

If it doesn't require an additional vote, then I would expect to see a graphic with where the route is gonna be, what it's gonna look like, and some additional information so that someone like me, who's a member of the public, who's interested in seeing this go forward, because I think this is a great idea. Is it on the staff report? Okay. Is it going to be like a separate pathway beside the roadway? Because Boulder, those of you that have driven Boulder Avenue, you know that it's kind of a free-for-all out there. And so I have some safety concerns, and I think as a council, you should as well. So I would just say, if you're gonna only sign off on this once, you might wanna get some additional answers from what I've seen so far, thank you.

Would you like to respond to any?

Yeah, I guess I can just briefly say that as far as the permitting, I believe that that has been obtained already. So there shouldn't be any issues. And although it's federally funded, and there's various funding sources listed in the agenda report. So they all have deadlines and requirements. So I don't think SBCTA would move forward with this project if they have not obtained all the required permits to do the final design. And it will be a protected bicycle lane pedestrian path. So yes. And this is the, the agreements are to proceed to the final design and also for the construction, eventual construction of the project.

So this is the only vote that we will have? Correct. Okay. All right, thank you.

I do have a question.

Yes.

Or if there's no more public comment.

I don't see any public comment. Madam moderator, do we have any public comment or comment on this item?

Mr. Mayor, I see no public comment at this time.

Thank you.

I did. So my question is for the good of the public, is there a timeline for when this construction would begin after all of this? Because I didn't.

Yes. So the design needs to be completed by the end of this year and construction will start early next year.

Okay. Thank you very much. Sure.

All right. What's the wish of the council?

I move that the City Council approve the cooperative agreement with SBCTA for the management and delivery of the construction phase of Highland Redlands Regional Gap Connection project in the amount not to exceed $440,396. I move that the City Council approve the cooperative agreement with the City of Highland for the share of the final design cost of the project in the amount not to exceed $57,850. And I move that the city, that the council determine approval of the cooperative agreement with SBCTA and the city of Highland are exempt from environmental review pursuant to section 15061B3 of the state guidelines implemented California Environmental Quality Act.

Second. I have a motion and a second. Madam City Clerk.

Council Member Baric.

Yes.

Council Member Tejeda.

Yes.

Council Member Davis. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw. Yes. Mayor Sesedo. Yes.

Yes. Item J4, consideration of approval of an agreement with ProCraft Construction Inc. for citywide plumbing and repair services for a one-year term with two optional one-year extensions in the amount not to exceed $300,000. Facilities and Community Services Director Crocker.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. The Facilities and Community Services Department Building Maintenance Division is responsible for maintaining city facilities, including plumbing. And while staff perform routine plumbing work, outside contractors are utilized when additional capacity or specialized expertise is necessary. As a result of this need, staff issued a request for bids for on-call plumbing and repair services. Pro craft was determined to be the lowest responsive better In addition the attached agreement for the staff report has a date of May 5th That was a typo the state needs to be modified to May 19th to represent tonight's meeting Okay, thank you any questions or comments for staff I

I'll move to approve an agreement with Procraft Construction Inc for a citywide on-call plumbing and repair services for a one-year term and two optional one-year extensions that amount not to exceed 300,000. Second. We have a motion and a second.

Councilmember Baric.

Yes.

No public comment. No public. We have public comment. No.

Councilmember Baric.

Yes.

Councilmember Tejeda. Yes. Councilmember Davis. Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Shaw.

Yes. Mayor Sacito.

Yes. Moving on to item J5, this is a consideration of a first amendment to the agreement with Quinmar Genitorial Inc. to increase the total compensation of $1,612,706.58 to $1,957,668.82 and extend a service for eight calendar months, facilities and community services, Department Crocker.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. I'll try to round up those numbers for you next time. This item is an amendment to our existing janitorial contract with Quinmar Janitorial. The amendment is for an eight-month extension to allow time for the future move of the city hall to the new facility on State Street. The amendment will extend this contract to December of 2026, and I'm available for any questions.

I don't see any public comment. I don't have any... Speaker slips, what's the wish of the council?

I move to approve the First Amendment to the agreement to Quarimar Janitorial Inc. increase the total agreement compensation by $344,962.44 from $1,612,706.58 to $1,957,000. 688 68 and 82 cents with the extension of eight months okay yeah what round up next time please second we have a motion we need a second second oh did he second it thank you uh council member davis uh madam city clerk okay council member barrett yes council member tejeda yes council member davis yes mayor pro tem shaw mayor sesito yes

All right, that takes us to K, is individual council members' announcements and reports on activities. Who wants to start? All right, I'll start, mine will go first.

I spent half of the last week that I was here, or that I was off of the break here from one council meeting to the next, I was ill, so didn't have anything that I can report on, so that's my report.

Okay. Councilmember Davis?

Sure. Mayor Pro Tem Shaw and I attended the SCAG conference, which was great. I'm sure we'll do a report back on that at some point. Additionally, I spoke at a UC Riverside conference on science for policy, and I also was a panelist, actually a panelist giving feedback to high school students at the Inland Civil Rights Institute as part of their civics lab. Really great high school presentations. Finally, I was honored to serve in the inaugural meeting of the San Bernardino Regional Housing Trust. It was a great meeting. Looking forward to being part of that group.

I attended the library board meeting. As you can guess, the biggest The thing on the agenda is when we're going to have the museum opened. Your guess is as good as mine. But I do want to compliment the library for all the events they put on. Again, we had mentioned that yesterday at our meeting. It really brings people downtown to our parks. They have some fantastic events going on, not just because they have In-N-Out Burger, but I'm sure that It helps get people down there. But it's really quite an asset, again, from having the Gettysburg Address to the annual Lincoln March and Shrine. But they do good work, and we hope that the museum will be open real soon, and it'll be in good hands.

Thank you. I attended the mayor's prayer breakfast on the 7th. And then on the 14th, along with Mayor Pro Tem and city manager, attended the city and county conference. It was on a Thursday. Also attended a Eagle Scout honor, achievement honor with Mayor Pro Tem. And then also had the opportunity to, an invitation by, uh, Mr. Tim Rockford. They had an essay contest for, uh, some of the elementary schools to, um, the theme was, uh, what does America mean to me? Uh, and so it was a great event to hear all the essays that were, um, awarded, um, raffle prizes and, and gift cards up at the Burge mansion. And that's just a wonderful event along with the other ones that they have for the, uh, pledge of allegiance. And so, um, that concludes my report. And, um, If that's all we have, anybody else? Okay. We stand adjourned to the next city council meeting held on June the 2nd. Thank you for your time and patience.