City Council - Regular Meeting

Puede comenzar a hablar inmediatamente después de que se le conceda la palabra. Tiempo para hablar. Tendrá cinco minutos. Por favor comience presentándose.

City Council the city of Rialto the acting successor agency to the redevelopment agency the Rialto Utilities Authority the Rialto Housing Authority is now in order will Go into closed session and I'll have the clerk call the roll Mayor Baca president mayor Pro Tem Scott president councilmember Karrie Sanders president councilmember Perez president councilmember Montoya president City Attorney Eric Bell Present.

City Manager Tanya Williams. Present.

Thank you all members present and accounted for, including the city attorney. At this time, I'd like to turn it over to the city attorney to report on closed session items.

Thank you, Mayor. We have one primary item tonight. It's a conference with legal counsel with regard to two items of anticipated litigation. Those items are listed in the bullet points in the description. Basically, they're an industrial disability retirement and a worker's comp claim settlement. That's all we have on closed session for tonight.

Thank you. Is there any member from the audience that would like to address any of the closed items? Seeing none. Is there anyone that has called in in reference to a closed item? None. Okay. Do I hear a motion to close the closed session? Motion been made by Mayor Pro Tem at Scott seconded by Carla Councilwoman Carla Perez Move in a closed session

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Call the meeting to order. The city council, city of Rialto, the acting successor agency to the redevelopment agency, the Rialto Utilities Authority, Rialto Housing Authority is now in order. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mayor Baca?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Scott?

Present.

Council Member Montoya?

Present.

Council Member Perez? Present. Councilmember Carasales.

Present.

City Treasurer Ed Carrillo.

Present.

City Attorney Eric Bell.

Present.

City Manager Tonya Williams. Present.

Okay, all members present and accounted for. So at this time, we'll all stand up for a Pledge of Allegiance. It will be led by Councilmember Edward Montoya.

Everybody face the flag, right hand over your heart. 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.

You can remain standing. At this time, we'll have the invocation by Pastor Peter Yola from the New Destiny Christian Church.

Thank you. I would have messed that up. Yes, I'm Pastor Peter Ulloa from the New Destiny Rialto. I just want to say, Mayor Joe Baca, thank you. This is the second time I get invited to open up in prayer for the invocation. I just want to say what a privilege and what an honor it is to do this. But before we pray, I just want to share some scripture. It tells us in 1 Timothy 2, 1 and 2. It tells us here that I urge you, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for the kings and all those in authority, that we may live peacefully in quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. And the application for that, it's for us to respect and obey governing authorities while having God's commands, pray for leaders to receive wisdom and guidance, promote justice and mercy in society, and recognize that God is the ultimate sovereign over all nations and rulers. And just pretty much, and so we're just gonna, I'm just gonna go ahead and pray, and if you guys will join me in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to serve the people of Rialto, help Mayor Baca and the council to act with character and conviction, help them to listen with understanding and goodwill, give them a spirit of service, remind them that they are stewards of your authority, guide them to be leaders of the people, renew in them the joy of helping to build a community worthy of the human person. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Pastor Ewell. At this time, we'll call on the city attorney to give us a report at closed session.

Thank you, Mayor. We had one item on our closed session tonight, two sub-items. There was no reportable action on that item. Thank you.

thank you very much uh... with that uh... before we move on to uh... presentations of proclamation i just uh... like to just uh... make an announcement hopefully that uh... as we look at the possibility of al nino coming our way that hopefully that the fire department of the police department will give us just a short brief in terms of any preparation that we may need to do to make sure that uh... We take the proactive stance to protect the citizens of the city of Rialto. Then the other announcement I just wanted to make is that the Frisbee Park at at the Little League and both the girls softball don't have covers for their softball teams or their baseball teams and hopefully we can look at the possibility of having covers for them like we do at some of the other parks too as well in reference to both the boys baseball and the girls softball there at Frisbee Park. and the last item i just wanted to make a quick announcement that hopefully we can look at the rialto swimming pool in that area and looking at what our fees are for seniors that we can report back to individuals that are concerned about the amount of monies that we're charging our seniors with that i'd like to move in to presentations and proclamations. We have a check presentation to the city of Rialto from San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District for the demands and management program. And I know that we have a board member here, Jose Velazquez, that is present. I don't know if he's gonna do it or is someone else going to do that?

Good evening, Mayor Baca and Mayor Pro Tem Scott and council. Tonight I'm pleased to celebrate the city of Rialto for their investment in water conservation. I am Director Jose Velazquez, Division 1 of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District. And on behalf of the board of directors, we are here tonight to present the ceremonial check in the amount of 50,000 for your water conservation program. I want to thank Nicole for her efforts in making sure this money goes back to the city and working with our staff. The water we saved today helps make sure that there's enough water for the communities in the future. Before we present the check, I would like to introduce our CEO, General Manager Heather Dyer to give us some more background on the funding. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Council Members. Thank you, Director Velazquez. I'm Heather Dyer, the CEO and General Manager of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, and I just wanted to explain a little bit more about what this program is intended to do. We are happy to report this is actually a program driven by your staff, identifying the needs of your people that you serve and so your staff was able to put together a program of work in the amount of fifty thousand dollars that will achieve a lot of the goals of the city of rialto and also our agency we are the state water contractor and wholesale water agency for this region we implement long-term water planning programs including supporting water use efficiency efforts of our local water retailers. Water conservation is an important part of our water supply portfolio that also includes recycled water, supplemental water from the north, and local storm water capture for groundwater replenishment. As Director Velazquez mentioned, Rialto is providing a water conservation program which will revamp rebate programs, expand education, outreach and marketing to your residential and commercial customers. For example, eligible customers will be able to receive rebates for high efficiency toilets and washing machines as well as smart irrigation controllers which are very effective along with turf replacement where appropriate. This program will expand education and marketing through your educational programs and outreach. And again, I cannot commend your staff enough for a really creative thinking on how you all can better serve your community and help them achieve water efficiency standards. Our demand management program provides this funding to our retail agencies to help you meet those goals that you have set. So as our region continues to make these strides towards our long term water resiliency, we commend the city of Rialto for your outstanding work, your efforts toward water conservation, community education, being part of the water supply reliability solution. So thank you, we appreciate all the hard work of the council and your staff, and we are happy to celebrate a $50,000 check for you all. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We appreciate San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District for their contribution. And if you don't mind, the council members will go up front with you, and our city manager too as well, and Nicole, to take a little photo. All of us?

Thank you.

Can we cash it now? Cash it now. Again, thank you very much for that generous contribution. We look forward to working with San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District in terms of conservation of water and making sure that we have good, safe water and that we're able to conserve as much as possible, especially with a lot of the heat that we're having and the dry season, so thank you very much. I would like to move on to the next item, and that's the employee recognition presentation that'll be made by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, City Council. Chief Kling, can I get you to join me up here? The city has had a tradition of presenting pens to its employees after certain years of service, five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years. Very seldom do we have employees that have made it 30 years. And unfortunately, once in a while we miss people. So we've missed a person in our city who worked for our police department, and I'd like to call her up tonight, and that would be retired Rialto Police Lieutenant Kathy Thompson. Kathy began her career at Rialto Police Department as a level one reserve officer in 1985 and became full-time police officer in January 1986 upon her graduation from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department 83rd Basic Academy. Following her initial field training as a police officer, Kathy received the following specialized assignments and promotions. 1989 40 king helicopter observer interagency assignment with san bernardino county sheriff's department aviation division 1990 promoted to corporal and assigned as a field training officer 1993 through 1998 assigned to specialized services a detective 1998 promoted to sergeant and assigned to patrol division and subsequently assigned as the detective sergeant 2000 promoted to lieutenant and served in investigative services patrol division administrative services and as an area commander Kathy retired on December 31st 2015 so as you can see we're a little behind Accommodations, during her career Kathy received department accommodations and service ribbons in addition to a 1997 California Sexual Assault Investigators Outstanding Service Award for sustained dedication to the field of sexual assault. and a 2002 community service commendation from Governor Gray Davis as an extraordinary law enforcement leader. Advanced education. During her career, Kathy achieved the California Commission on Police Standards and Training, Basic Advanced Supervisorial and Management Certificates. Kathy also achieved a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management 2002 and a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management 2004. In 2012, Kathy graduated from Class 50 of the California Peace Officers Standards and Training Command College. and again as i stated kathy retired december 31st 2015. it's my honor and privilege tonight to present her with her 30-year pin which has a little diamond in it but i will tell you not very many people in the city get to this point so we're very proud of the work she has done with our city she's a long time resident i won't say lifelong but a long time resident her and her husband terry and we appreciate her service to our police department and the residents of our city. Kathy, thank you so very much.

Thank you for making this happen. I appreciate it.

Would you like to come down?

Well mayor Baca and council members and especially the council member Scott You know, this was supposed to be a surprise But I was making other plans for this evening and Terry my husband had to share that That he and Ed Scott were trying to surprise me with this pin and I'm really that's what brought us here tonight When I retired ten years ago. It was just a simple oversight that the pin had not been presented and I had always intended to go back and try to get it and then started enjoying retirement and the years went by and I forgot about it. And one day Terry and I were talking about it And I said, I was just disappointed I never got it, because I had all the other pins. And unbeknownst to me, he got with Council Member Scott and got the ball rolling to get the pin. And then I was going to mess it all up by being somewhere else. It may seem a small thing, a pin. But as I cherish the 30 years that I protected and serve the citizens of our beloved city as a police officer i assure you i will cherish this pen as well thank you very much for this honor thank you thank you i'm gonna get hugs from everybody thank you thank you all thank you very much thank you thank you thank you

Right here? Yeah, I was gonna say, you got it all right. Good job. All right, one, two, three.

Thank you.

You know, Kathy just didn't retire. She's still quite active in the community. In fact, with Kathy and Terry, they came up with the idea that we should have lights on Cactus Street or Avenue. they walked that area and When you see the change of time like we have right now We are now the city of Rialto in conjunction with the county of San Bernardino Thanks to Joe Baca jr. That were able to have the lights. It'll be coming up and maybe I'll have the City manager at this time. Just give us a little highlight in terms of when that's going to happen. I

Yeah, so I was just speaking with our public works director, actually, and I believe construction has started and they've had their kickoff meeting, so we should be seeing some lights and activity out there very soon. Good.

Thank you very much. Mr. Mayor, I would like to add, Kathy, I also believe that you were the first female lieutenant in the Rialto Police Department. No? So the second. Okay. We weren't sure, so we were just talking about that.

She's the first Rialto.

The Rialto. Very Rialto. also soon we'll be giving uh city clerk mcgee her 30-year pin because she's actually got 32 or 33 years with the city and you're only 26. how did that happen thank you thank you very much

uh with that then we'll move on to uh oral communications do we have anyone that says uh filled out uh to speak under oral communications yes i i have uh ariana ariana and matthew are they here

Adriana shopper sharp in in Matthews, that's you Okay, so the both of them has put in the form to speak Go ahead

Good evening, Mayor, members of City Council, and residents of Rialto. My name is Adrienne Schalk. I'm an educator at Carter High School, and I've been an employee of the Rialto Unified School District for the past decade. Though I am here to speak to you about education, I'm not a representative of Carter High School nor of the school district. I come before you as a concerned member of the community. The issue presenting great concern to me today is the role of safety in the institution of education. As an English teacher, I pride myself with convincing even the most resistant students that they can learn to love literature. There are many important lessons that I wish to impart on every student who walks in my room, but students cannot be receptive to any lesson if they don't feel safe. Safety is my number one concern in the classroom. We discuss complex and divisive topics, controversial even, and students need to feel safe to share their opinions, especially when their opinions differ from those around them. Encouraging students to share differing opinions is how I, as an educator, teach my students, who will one day become adults, to engage in academic and eventually civic discourse. Civic discourse, as you know, is an essential ingredient for society to continue. Unfortunately, many students and community members are not feeling safe to even physically come to campus. This is due to the unsettling presence of masked men in unmarked cars who have abducted individuals close to Rialto schools. Immigration enforcement officers have made their presence known just outside the doors of our schools. On September 2nd, alleged ICE agents positioned themselves on Linden Avenue just beyond the border of Carter High School between 8 and 8.30 AM, abducting an individual. They were fully masked. Their car had no identification. This individual was taken in full view of students and families on their way to school. A few weeks prior to that event, two teenagers were abducted by similar agents while walking to another high school in the Rialto Unified School District. Since then, there has been a decline in attendance at both schools. How can we expect students to feel safe discussing difficult topics in class if they don't even feel safe to enter the building? I'm an educator. My role is to teach the themes of the past and the themes of the present so that these children might create a future that reflects what they want society to look like. I cannot do my job if the students don't show up to class. Society is troubled right now. The only way to right the ship is to have educated individuals who are brave enough to speak out and make the change they want to see in the world. In order to do that, they need to learn the skills that will give them the tools to be that change. They need to come to my class, my colleagues' classes. They need to learn from their teachers and disagree with their peers. If they don't, how will they grow to engage in civic discourse as adults? Rialto schools are in an upward trend. CAASPP scores are improving, graduation rates have never been higher, but that will not continue if the children of this community are denied access to their education. These children are being robbed, and they are being robbed of the access to education, and they are being robbed of a future that only they can create if given the tools. This is a problem happening today and an even bigger problem for tomorrow. You have the ability to ensure the safety of Rialto residents. You need to ensure the safety of students traveling to campus. You need to make learning safe. Do not allow federal agents to prevent our students from accessing their education. The education my colleagues and I provide is a right, not a privilege. If Rialto schools had additional police presence, perhaps these masked men claiming to be enforcing immigration law will spread their malice somewhere else that doesn't affect our children. When ICE is outside the doors of education, we have a greater problem, but I digress. Students need to feel safe to come to school. Parents of students need to feel safe to bring their children to school. Otherwise, what is the point of anything? I leave you with the words of Nelson Mandela, education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. But our students cannot use that weapon if they are too afraid to come to school. Keep our schools safe, keep our students in school, give them the education they need to change the world. Thank you.

Thank you. Is the next person speaking on the same subject?

Yes.

Okay, I'll respond afterwards. The next person.

Matthews, yeah.

Do I just start one? Okay, I started. Good evening, honorable counselor. I'd like to thank you all for honoring your duty of listening to the concerned citizens of the city. I'd like to build on the previous speaker's concerns about school safety as it regards to potentially federal agents camping outside of Rialto school districts. I wanted to focus more so on the practicalities about why it would benefit the city of Rialto specifically to be proactive in ensuring that immigration enforcement stays a good berth away from the schools. The first reason is that, as we know from last year, pretty much every single high school staged at least one walkout. During these walkouts, there was a lot of disorganized movement of students, and it unfortunately cost the city a fair amount of money. The teachers were unable to do their jobs, and subsequently a lot of parents didn't know where their kids were. I believe that it would be incredibly proactive for the students of Rialto to know that their city is behind them and supports them in order to make sure that their school is a safe environment. I believe that the likelihood of a school walkout would decrease if you took a proactive stance in ensuring that there was at least some level of proximity away from schools for immigration enforcement. The second point that I would like to bring up is the concerning rise of ICE impersonators. Whatever your politics may be about the current situation, you can go on Amazon or Teemu right now and buy whatever tactical gear that you prefer. Right now in California, all sorts of windows are allowed to be darkened to a pretty absurd level, in my opinion, and many cars do not have identifications. This leads to a rising concern and probability of ICE impersonators potentially abducting children outside of schools. As educators are mandated reporters, I have to ask, who exactly do you report an abduction if we don't even know if they are federal agents or not? It is not clear if they're coordinating with the city or the police officers of Rialto, and I believe that it would behoove the Rialto Police Department to make sure that their authority was not being superseded in our own city. Lastly, I don't know if anybody else has to drop off their kids at schools, but sometimes the traffic in the drop-off areas can get a little bit hectic. Now, not to speak lightly of it, but more traffic in these congested areas can definitely slow down things. This might be on the lower end of impacts of things, but if people are not able to drive efficiently through the schools and be able to drop off their students because of a fear of a potential stop, without any sort of warrant for arrest or any identification for that abduction i believe this is going to cause a significant logistical slowdown of students abilities to be able to get into these schools so as a whole i strongly believe and encourage the city council to be able to assert its authority and establish some level of proximity away from schools so that way students are able to better be able to go to school and go back from school. I understand that immigration has their job to do. You also have your jobs to do. I would just encourage that we push them away from schools because this is going to directly impede students' ability to be able to go to school as a whole. I believe that there are other ways to cooperate with immigration enforcement. And I believe that that can also be done while maintaining a fair distance away from schools. I don't believe this is mutually exclusive. And I really think that it would improve the image of the city of Rialto in the eyes of the students to know that you took a proactive stance in ensuring the safety of our students. Thank you very much.

I have another speaker.

On the same subject?

I'm not sure. I'm not sure. It's just oral communication. Antonio?

Is it on the same subject?

Generally, yes. Okay.

That's a great question.

Hello. I'm and I'm here to talk about essentially the exact same thing the previous two speakers have talked about. Essentially, the idea that safety is being sold behind the guise of surveillance. I don't believe that is the best way to go about this situation. As we've seen is that throughout this country, ICE has been working with, DHS has been working with many companies that sell services, whether it's cameras, whether it's ALPRs, whether it's other systems that cities purchase, rent out. and they use that data to then track people and follow people. That has been abused by multiple different police departments. I'm not claiming it was this one specifically in Rialto, but what I'm claiming is that it can be abused, and it is being abused by federal officers. ice comes in and threatens our communities like the previous speakers have spoken about teachers don't feel comfortable going to school students don't feel comfortable going to school parents don't feel comfortable taking their kids to school what we need is a city council that notices that it's not just safety it is the fact that we are causing that safety issue by putting alprs a large part of the city's budget towards funding these rental programs for surveillance on our communities. And what is it gonna do? It's not gonna protect our community entirely. It's just gonna allow another toy for people to be able to surveil our people. If we want to protect our communities, then we will build our community infrastructure. We will invest in our schools, invest in after school programs, invest in things that give students something to do after school so they're not on the streets. And that is all I have to say because we need a bill for the future because right now we are spending too much of our tax dollars on these surveillance systems that make people profit outside of these communities while they surveil us and they collect data on us and sell it throughout their country to whoever. I mean, Home Depot's even using flock cameras now.

Thank you very much.

And we have one speaker that is on the phone, and I'm not sure what their topic is speaking on.

Okay, we have someone that has called in on the same area or not? On oral communications, yes.

Speaker, you may begin by unmuting on Zoom, please.

I believe I'm unmuted. I'm not talking about that issue at all. It's a separately entirely different issue.

Speaker, you're being recognized. Please unmute on Zoom.

hello hi there okay sorry i'm not speaking on that issue um it's an entirely different issue go ahead all right so uh good evening my name is teresa i'm a rialto resident and a mother of two young children Recently, my children and I put on a small cookie cart outside of our home. It wasn't an ongoing commercial business. It was a mom trying to teach her children something positive, responsibility, entrepreneurship, and kindness, and most importantly, how to give back to their community. We told our community and our neighbors that if they couldn't afford a cookie, they could still have one. If they needed a pick-me-up, come by and grab one, or just come talk to us. After a complaint was made, the Rialto compliance officer came to our home and told us we could no longer continue. I understand that the laws and regulations exist for a reason, and I respect that, but I encourage this council to ask whether we are making an appropriate distinction between a commercial business and a child learning how to be a part of their community. I've also learned since that the individual that I believe made the complaint has close ties within the city of Rialto. I'm not suggesting or alleging that those relationships influence what happened. However, every resident should have confidence that enforcement is fair and consistent. regardless of who makes the phone call or who they know. Our children are the future of Rialto. If we want them to grow into adults who care about this city, we have to give them opportunities to learn what community means while they're young. So I'm asking the Rialto City Council to consider reasonable guidelines that allow occasional children's cookie stands, lemonade carts, and similar activities while still protecting the health and safety. And to clearly differentiate those activities from true commercial businesses. Because one day these children will be homeowners, business owners, neighbors, and leaders of Rialto. What we teach them about community today will become the Rialto we live in tomorrow. I hope we choose to teach them that when they try to do something good for their community, their community makes room for them. Thank you.

thank you very much uh for your concerns and your comments i believe that we also got the email on it and i believe that we'll try to work with the river ranch individuals in that area to look at what's going on in reference to the city ordinance or codes that are there and then hopefully they could take into consideration that that a child that may be out there displaying or selling candy or just giving candy away or any other kind of items that we could look at it and make a sound decision and whatever action may be taken so thank you very much we are very much concerned with it too as well thank you I'd like to address the three individuals, or the individuals that spoke in reference to the safety in the school. We agree with you, we hear you. We're also very much concerned with what's going on in all of the cities, too, as well, and hopefully, that the three of you that spoke here have an opportunity to speak at rialto unified school district and address them too as well because they're part of the responsibility that they also have for public safety and then they have their enforcement too as well now as as well as the city of rialto the city of rialto is not going to upper hand question or go after any individual that is here that lives in the city of Rialto. We care about each and every one of the individuals that are here. I've had an opportunity to talk to the chief of police and we've talked about this as well and we realized that that there are certain jurisdictions that the city has and jurisdictions that the federal government has, and we cannot interfere with the federal government. We can in terms of if they're violating some kind, whether they're undercover or don't have the identification they have, that's something different that we can always look at if we're able to, right, correct, Chief? And you can add anything else that I may, you wanna add anything else? Yes. But I just wanted to assure the individuals that we are very much concerned. We do want the public safety. We want our kids to have a good education. We want them to feel free to go into school or the parents or anyone else that is sending kids there. But the city of Rialto has taken that kind of an action that we will not go and try to question anyone that is here, not the police department. Chief Klain.

Thank you, Mayor. Mayor Pro Tem and the council, members of the audience, people at home listening to tonight's meeting. Just so we're clear, the mayor and I have spoken before, actually have spoken several times just about what the speakers have brought up to the podium tonight. In 2017, the state of California passed a law and it's Senate Bill 54. Senate bill 54 completely restricts local law enforcement to utilize personnel or any type of resources in aiding the federal government in immigration enforcement. We just simply cannot do it. So with that being said, it's very clear that the only time a police department is going to be involved is in the event federal officers are being assaulted. That's just because their law enforcement and all local law enforcement will do is try to remain and restore the peace and make sure that people aren't going to get hurt. Other than that, the immigration enforcement federal government does not, nor will they, share with any local law enforcement their operations, when they're going to be in a particular city, what they're doing in a particular city, or who they're after in a particular city. There is no cooperation between the federal government and state and local law enforcement, specifically because of Senate Bill 54 that restricts local law enforcement and state agencies and law enforcement to assist the federal government. With that being said, I know that some things have been said here tonight. It's important for people to actually appreciate education, the educational approach, reinforces and we can reinforce to the community that this isn't the city of Rialto, it's not the city council. Mayor, I appreciate the fact that you suggested that the educators go back to the Board of Education to talk about that perspective. Our police officers work hand in hand with the school security force for Rialto Unified School District. but I'm hoping that people understand the Rialto Police Department does not have a jurisdiction to stop the federal government and even make a safe zone, so to speak, around a school. It just is not gonna happen, it's impossible. We are under the federal umbrella as far as a nation. So we cannot overstep our bounds. We actually, within the state of California, we do have laws, like I said, Senate Bill 54, but we do not have the authority to overstep a federal agency. With that in mind, the federal agency is not going to share with local law enforcement what their operations are. So in the event we do get a call, we respond. Most likely in this particular case, we did receive that call by the time our officers were there and we have an SRO on campus that's Carter. That operation that happened was already cleared out and individuals were gone. A lot of times we get calls and say, well, where did they go? Frankly, we don't know. We try to find out in some cases where the individual is detained, but then again, we just don't get that information. And frankly, the federal government does not openly share information with us. But it's not just particularly ICE. We don't get a lot of information sharing at a lot of local law, or actually federal law enforcement agencies levels. So that is what I would add to the individuals. I would offer up, if you want to speak with any member of our police department, I've got captains in the back that you can go talk to outside. But I think it's really important to understand the takeaway tonight would be that this isn't the Rialto Police Department supporting the actions of what ICE immigration individuals do. We understand how disruptive it is, but we're extremely restricted on what we can and can't do. But rest assured that we do not put forth our resources or our personnel to assist in that in anything that we do with somebody that has some type of immigration status that even may be in question. Our message to people in this community is really simple. even if you're visiting the city of Rialto from another community, if you're a victim of crime, we do not care what your immigration status is because we will not ask it. It does not matter to us. We simply want to know if you're a victim, then please cooperate with us so we can actually get to the perpetrator and put them in custody and hold them accountable. So that's the only comments that I would add, Mayor. Thank you very much.

With that then, we'll move on to, if there's any others. Any other calls that have come in? Hearing none, then we'll move on to the consent calendar. The consent calendar.

Mayor, before you do that, staff did request that we remove and pull item E4 from the consent calendar. That'll be tabled and it'll be brought back at another time.

Staff recommended that we pull item E4 to be continued sometime in the future.

With that, I'd like to move on to the consent calendar that's already moved on by the... Motion to approve the consent calendar excluding item E4 and a motion to pull item E4.

A motion's been made. This is just routine items that may be removed. Second. Anyone else?

I want to pull E3 for discussion.

Okay, we'll move, we'll pull E3. Any other items that any member of the council would like to pull? We have a motion on the floor. Is there anyone from the audience that would like to pull any items on the consent calendar? Hearing none, is there any phone calls that have come in or auto? No, we have no calls. Hearing none, with that then we, We'll pull item number four to our future, and then we'll take up item 3E under tab items. That will be the first item that we'll take up. All those in favor, we have a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott, seconded by, who seconded?

Carozales.

Andy Carozales, all right. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, motion carries. Our consent calendar is approved. We'll move on to the tab items. Now we'll move on to tab 3E as the first item on the agenda that was just pulled, Councilmember Edward Montoya.

So, yeah, thank you, Mayor. I had a question about the Treasurer's Investment Report. So in the Veterans Committee about a year ago, we had discussed and voted on bringing to the council an endowment fund that would help us to fund veteran events, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, possibly a parade, something. And I just wanna know what the status is on that.

Treasurer? You're asking me? Yes, sir. I don't establish the accounts. That's through finance, and finance director's not here. So if the council requested that a fund be established, they establish the account. Once they establish the account and start funding it, that is when then I start reporting it on the treasurer's report. But I have no authority to establish an accounting

Maybe I need to rephrase myself then. We had discussed it in the Veterans Commission between myself, you, and Mayor Baca, and we had discussed bringing the option of an endowment fund to the council so we can vote on it and get something started. And I just wanted to know if we've moved on possibly making that happen, to bring it to the council,

Well, I believe that we have not brought it to the council. So the city manager has not had an opportunity, along with our city attorney, to put it on the agenda. And if that's a request, then we could look at the possibility of putting on any agenda sometime in the future. But it's never been brought before us as a recommendation to our city manager.

OK, I was just trying to get a status. And I thought that you would be the one that would know. I only account for the money.

And that could have been brought up by any one of us three that aren't part of that committee. And none of us three has brought it up before to a city manager.

And I was just under the understanding that the treasurer was going to do that.

no that's our i think that's each of them okay us as a member of the council can bring in any item and put it on the agenda uh with that do i hear a motion to approve item uh three e3 motion of approve item e3 also i would make a motion that staff and the committee bring forward by the mid-year budget a proposal to establish an endowment for Second.

Motion's been made by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott with the amendment and seconded by Council Member Carla Perez. Any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, motion carries, thank you. Now we'll move on to tab one.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Tonight, staff is requesting that the City Council cancel the public hearing scheduled for this evening regarding the proposed annexation of territory into Rialto Landscape and Lighting Maintenance District number two. On August 25th, 2026, the city council adopted resolution 8558, which established September 8th, 2026 as the date for the public hearing to consider the proposed annexation. Since that time, staff and the city's consultant team have completed a substantial portion of the work necessary to process the annexation. However, additional time is needed to complete the remaining analysis and ensure that all necessary information is finalized prior to bringing the annexation forward for consideration. Staff will return to the city council on September 22nd, 2026 to recommend a date for the public hearing along with the additional analysis necessary for council's consideration. Staffer recommends that the City Council approve the proposed action to cancel the September 8th, 2026 public hearing regarded the proposed annexation of territory into Rialto Landscape and Lighting Maintenance District number two. This concludes my presentation and I'm available for any questions.

Motion to.

Motion has been made by mayor Pro Tem that we cancel the public hearing and move it to additional date in the future Do I hear a second? seconded by Carla Perez Any discussion by any member of the on the audience hearing on do we have any calls in reference to this? I?

We have no callers. Hearing none, okay. I have a question.

Yes. The ballots that we have, do we just hold those or do, what do we do with the ballots?

We don't read any of the ballots.

We don't proceed any further tonight. It will all go back to the city engineer's department.

So they will be submitting new ballots? That's what I'm trying to make sure that we are clear.

Yeah, well, I believe they'll have to be new ballots and new noticing because the amount needs to be established.

Thank you. With that clarification, all those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, okay, we'll move it over to them sometime in the future. We'll move on to tab two.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of council.

This item asks council to approve a three-year renewal with our enterprise agreement with ESRI in the amount of $270,900. I always love the tongue twisters. So the city has relied on ESRI's GIS platform since 2003. GIS is a core operational tool used by nearly every city department. Public Works uses it to manage water, sewer, their work order system, and street infrastructure. Planning uses it for zoning and land use review. Police and fire use it for dispatch, and code compliance uses it for case tracking. The proposed agreement renewal keeps that access uninterrupted, and because it's an enterprise-wide license rather than per-seat licensing, it lets any department add users as the need grows. The cost is a flat rate of $90,300 a year, which is already budgeted into the IT operating budget. Thank you and this concludes my presentation. As re-rep as well as myself are available for any questions.

Are there any questions from members of the audience? Is there any calls in reference to tab two? We have no callers. Thank you. Now we'll move it on to members of the council. Are there any questions from members of the council? Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott.

Yeah, I just have a question as to why city staff, a number of them, aren't aware of our participation with Esrae on these items. For instance, if you ask staff members in certain departments whether or not you can locate utilities through Esrae, they will tell you they don't know. So I don't think we're doing a very good job in communicating with our employees how valuable Esrae is because it is extremely valuable for those kind of items. So I would hope we do a better outreach to our employees on this.

100 it's a very very valuable tool and i would like to thank council also with this last budget adoption uh council did award us and and grant us a gis technician a position for in-house so we will have those controls in-house and better management of that Okay.

Move approval. Second. Motion's been made by Council Member Andy Karacetis. Seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott. Any further discussion? All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any oppositions? Hearing none, motion carries. Now we'll move on to tab three.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of City Council, Yaz, I'm Ronnie, your Public Works Director, here to present on this item related to Fire Station 201 Interior Improvement Project. Tonight, staff is requesting Council approval related to approval of the interior improvements. As we all know, on May 11th, 2024, a vehicle struck Fire Station 201. causing significant damage to the building's living and kitchen areas, as well as the fire sprinkler system and other interior components. The city has been working since that time to assess the damage, coordinate with our insurance representatives, complete the design, and move forward with the necessary repairs.

Move approval. Second. Motion made by Mayor Scott, seconded by Andy . Any discussion? Anybody from the audience that would like to address this? Hearing none, are there any calls in reference to tab three? We have no callers. Thank you. Any other members wish to make a comment? If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, motion carries. Thank you very much. And they were the lowest bidder too as well.

Tab four. Good evening, this is also related to another fire station project. This one is the Fire Station 204 Dormitory Improvements Project. This project will renovate the existing open dormitory configuration, which dates back to the 1990s, and create individual sleeping rooms to provide greater privacy and improve firefighter living conditions.

Move for approval.

Motion been made by Councilmember Carla Perez, seconded by Andy Garacetis. Oh, by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott. I saw the other light on before yours, Mayor Pro Tem. Okay, so seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott. Is there anyone from the audience that would like to address this item?

No, I have no communications.

Thank you. Is there anyone from the has made a call? We have no callers. None. Is there any further discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, motion carries. We'll move on to tab five.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of council. I have a brief 20 page summary to go over for a contract request. I'm just playing. Submitted for your approval tonight is a three year contract agreement with Prudential overall in the amount of 225,000 for uniform and linen service. And to authorize the city manager or designee to execute all related documents. This agreement will commence the fiscal year 2627 and continue through fiscal year 2829. The city relies on professional uniform and linen service to support field and office personnel across multiple departments, including but not limited to public works, parks and recreation, fire, and the police department. These services include uniform cleaning, repair, and exchange- Move for approval.

Motion be made by Council Member Andy Caraceles. Is there a second? Second. By council member Carla Perez. Is there any discussion from any member of the audience in reference to tab five? Is there anyone that has called in in reference to tab five?

We have no callers.

Is there any member from the council that has any questions? I just have one question. Were there any bidders from City of Rialto?

No, no local bidders. One was from Anaheim and the other one was from Riverside.

I saw those two, but I was just curious in terms of any bidder. Okay, with that then, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, we'll move on to tab six. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and City Council. Tonight's item is to request to approve a three-year service agreement with Fire Apparatus Solutions for preventive maintenance and repair of the city's fire apparatus fleet. The annual not to exceed amount is $400,000 totaling $1.2 million over the initial term, with the option to extend for up to two additional one year periods. If exercised, the full five year value would not exceed $2 million. This service agreement maintains our seven fire engines, two truck companies, one hazmat unit, two brush units, and one incident support unit in a safe and reliable condition, which is essential to firefighter safety and timely emergency response. Fire apparatus solution has supported Rialto since 2013.

Move approval. Second. Motion's been made by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Scott, seconded by Andy Caraceres. Is there anyone from the audience that would like to address tab six? Is there any calls that have come in in reference to tab six?

We have no callers.

Hearing none, is there any discussion from any members of the council? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Hearing none, motion carries. Thank you, that concludes the items on the agenda. We'll now move on to Council's report. We'll start with Mayor Pro Tem, Ed Scott. No report tonight. We'll start then with Councilwoman Carla Perez.

Thank you, Mayor, nothing to report tonight.

We'll move to thank you mayor. We'll move to everyone Montoya. I

No report, thank you.

Thank you, then we'll move on to myself. I'd just like to announce that we have our Hall of Fame recognition that's coming up this weekend along with other activities, and I'm sure that they're gonna be reported by our acting Parks Recreation Director today. With that, I have no further reports, so at this time we'll move on with City Clerk Barbara McGee.

No report.

Thank you. We'll move on to our city treasurer, Edward Carrillo.

Thank you, Mayor. Nothing to report.

We'll move on to our city manager, Tanya Williams.

Good evening, Mayor. Thank you. No report this evening.

Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to our assistant city manager, Tim Sullivan, and human resource.

IT tonight, too.

And IT. No report tonight, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you. We'll move on to our city attorney, Eric Vail.

Mayor, I would like to let the council know just one little law that passed recently. Assembly Bill 179 was signed into law by the governor in July of this year. It's a very large bill. I only want to mention one piece of it. It has to do with affordable housing funding. This bill would make funds available for especially affordable rental housing with state financing. However, in this bill, the state is encouraging, I use that in quotation marks, when a city applies for state funding for one of these projects to waive all of its development impact fees. And if the city doesn't waive all of its impact fees, the dollar for dollar amount of the impact fees charged is taken off of the amount that the state awards for funding. That will go into effect in July of 2027. So a little give and then a little take away.

So does it address CFDs?

It's no. Taxes are exempt, assessments are exempt, and it doesn't affect formulaic money that the city might get, and it doesn't include community block grants. So it does have somewhat of a limited effect, but it will affect this big pot of money if we go to apply for it. So just wanted to let you know about, keep that in mind. I have a lot more information, but I'm going to keep it brief tonight. And if you're interested in it, I can provide more.

I think it would be nice if you would just send it to each one of us so this way we can assess and evaluate it along with our community development director and our city manager in terms of what direction we may want to go on on this particular one whether we do apply for grants or not and look at the overall win and lost cost factors be happy to do that okay just a quick question does it allow developers to apply for money over and above the city the

I didn't look at the aspects of all of the entities that could apply for the money. I just looked at the aspect of what the city would have to do. It does affect cities. It does affect counties. It does not affect school districts. All of their fees are okay. It does not affect special districts. All of their requirements are okay. It might indicate that a special district that in some way Builds utility and infrastructure at the same time as funding affordable housing might be something the city wants to look at Thank you next we'll move on to our police chief mark clean

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and Council. I'll make my comments pretty brief tonight. I want to start with recognizing something I wanted to say when KB Thompson was up here. So she's asked several times that I've been back, how are we doing with women in promotions and what have you. I think it's important, even for the folks that are still listening, Council, to recognize that she's a trailblazer. I'm not sure she understands that yet. but we have hired an extraordinary amount of females for the future in this police department and So all your effort has not gone in vain. So we are literally working very hard so we may not be able to see the fruits of the harvest so to speak but in the future you're going to see a very good representation of women in ranks of this police department just because of the amounts of females that we hired. And it was mainly because of what you started. So I just want you to know that. Also, I just want to tell you that if you looked across the street, you can see the fences are coming down for the parking lot. It's not finished yet. You'll see three big flagpoles. It's really interesting why there's three. I just want Council to know that you asked about, we work for the city of Rialto, so the Rialto flag, I'll get with the clerk, but the Rialto flag will be proudly displayed on one of the flagpoles along with the American and State of California flags. So I think that's kind of exciting for us because hey, it's Rialto. Lastly, I just want the council to know that last month, and we've been extremely busy. Our police department continues to do and set a lot of new internal records for us. 8,451 calls for service in the month of August. 5,644 of those were officer initiated. We arrested 535 people and then we also took 1,319 reports. So you can feel what's happening in the community. It's not because I'm standing here as your chief. I can tell you it's a safer community. I can do that and say that because I came here in 2007. And anyone that's been around for as long as we all have been, this is not the old Rialto. It's the new Rialto.

It's a good one.

It is, and that's because of your vision, council, and what we're trying to do here. So thank you so much for the support.

Thank you very much. Next, I'd like to call on our fire chief, Chris Jensen.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to report tonight that our recruitments are moving forward rapidly to staff Medic Engine 203 and Medic Ambulance 204, which this council took action on at the budget in July or in June. And so our recruitments are looking very well with the different numbers for EMT, paramedic, firefighter paramedic, emergency manager and today we held our fire prevention technician interviews for the front counter. Tomorrow we also have Firefighter Paramedic Academy that's starting tomorrow with two recruits. And so we look forward to that academy. And lastly, Mayor, to answer your question regarding the El Nino weather, there are several meetings that are scheduled here in Rialto as well as within the region over the next month to dive deep into preparation and coordination. um and looking at here in the city of rialto our storm water runoff systems how we can ensure that the free flow of water is happening myself the police department and public works will be meeting to have discussions about that notification to homeless encampments that may be within flood channels, clearing debris out of the flood channels and looking at the flow so it's not restricted and flows farther out onto our surface flow onto the streets. There's several uh public service announcements that are being coordinated and put together and then we're ensuring that our eoc readiness for soft openings between police fire and public works is happening as it has in the last several years so there's quite a bit of movement going on within the region as well as right here in the city of rialto for our residents to ensure their safety during the el nino weather and thank you

Okay, thank you. Maybe you could coordinate with Public Works in terms of our draining systems during El Nino to make sure that they're clean because a lot of the water that just flows right directly and we're not able to channel and save that water to as well. So hopefully that we can coordinate to clean up the draining systems that we do have to capture a lot of it so it doesn't flow into a lot of our businesses in Foothill area. Thank you. Next, I'd like to call on Yatza M. Ramney.

Thank you, Mayor.

Public Works Director. No report? Okay. Our next Community Development Director, Christina Taylor.

Thank you, Mayor. A couple items for the council this evening. First of all, the Neighborhood Beautification and Historical Preservation Commission has brought back the Best Front Yard Awards. So we have a flyer posted, On the social medias, we have a link on the city's webpage, multiple places where any residents in Rialto can nominate any yard that they see that they think should be considered by the commission for an award. The deadline for the nominations is October 1st, and then we'll present the nominations to the commission at their October meeting, and then present the awards down either November, December. Secondly, we have a new sort of thing we're doing, City of Rialto New Businesses. We've also posted this on the social medias as well as included it in the city manager's monthly report. We have had upwards of 20 plus businesses opened in the city of Rialto within the last month or two, and a wide variety of medical, professional, health-related, auto-related, restaurants, and other types of businesses. So if you're interested in that, you can reach out to any of our staff or you can find it on our socials or in the city manager's report. And lastly, staff has emailed out to all of the council the current planning division entitlement status report. So if you all have any questions about any current or future projects on the list, just let us know. That concludes my report this evening, Mayor.

Thank you, and you can actually see a lot of this on our cable TV. I don't know if everybody gets Channel 3, but it is on cable TV, too, as well. You can see a lot of the information. In fact, I spent quite a whole day almost watching it on, I believe on Sunday. you know so it was good you know to see a lot of the activities that we're doing here in the city of rialto so i encourage people to go on and look at see what's happening in the city of rialto and get information by watching our cable tv and they're doing a great job too so thank you next i'd like to get our our acting parks recreation director for the day cynthia taylor

Thank you, Mayor. Happy to be presenting for Cynthia tonight on what's going on in Rialto. So we have the Youth Mentoring Program Cohort 2 beginning accepting applications Wednesday, September 9th in person at the Carl Johnson Center. We have the Senior Health and Wellness Expo also Wednesday, September 9th at the Grace Vargas Senior Center beginning at 10 a.m. We have the park cleanup at Rialto City Park, Saturday, September 12th from 8 a.m. till noon. And then we have very exciting, the North Rialto Little League Opening Ceremonies and Snack Bar Grand Opening this Saturday, September 12th at Birdsall Park at 10 a.m. We then have the Rialto Sports Hall of Fame happening Saturday, September 12th at the Carl Johnson Center Gym at 5 p.m. We have Petapalooza and Pollution Prevention Fair Saturday, September 19th here at the Civic Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. And Viva La Fiesta Saturday, September 26th at Rialto City Park from 5.30 to 9.30 p.m. And lastly, we will save the date for the MAD Inland Empire 5K Saturday, October 3rd at Joe Sampson Park from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. And this is our 10th anniversary. So we look forward to seeing everyone there.

Okay, thank you very much. Last but not least, I'd like to call on our acting human resource director, Tim Sullivan. Thank you, Mayor. No report. Okay, thank you. That concludes the report. Do I hear a motion to adjourn? Motion's been made by Carla Perez, seconded by Edward Montoya. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any oppositions? Hearing none, council's adjourned.