Park and Recreation Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay.

Pursuant to the city council rules and procedures of procedures and order of business, the members of all boards and commissions and the public are reminded that they must preserve order and decorum throughout the meeting. In that regard, members of the boards and commissions and the public are advised that any delay or disruption in the proceedings or a refusal to obey the orders of the board or commission or the presiding officer constitutes a violation of these rules. The City of Riverside is committed to fostering a workplace that provides dignity, respect, and civility to our employees, customers, and the public they serve. All right, good evening. It is 631. We'd like to welcome you to the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting of June 15th. This meeting is called to order. Okay, Commissioner Jones, would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? All right. Okay, thank you. We now move on to item one, number one, public comment. To comment on any matters within the jurisdiction of the commission, you are invited to participate in person or call at 951-826-8688. Press star nine to be placed in the queue to speak. Individuals in the queue will be prompted to unmute by pressing star six when you are ready to speak. Do we have any comments from the audience? Or anyone online? No callers? Okay, great. Thank you. We will now move on to presentations. Oh, we do have a speaker? Oh, please.

Well, good evening, everyone. My name is Beverly Hunt. I'm a Riverside resident, and I'm also a physical education teacher. I recently applied for the citywide Parks and Recreation Commission vacancy, and so I'm just here to observe and to see how the city commission works, and that's it. Thank you.

Have a good evening.

Thank you. She's looking to replace you. All right. Okay, so our first, well, Nakea will now move on to presentations. So our first presentation is regarding the Brown Act training.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Susan Wilson. I'm an assistant city attorney with the city attorney's office. And Governor Newsom signed SB 707 in October of this year with some significant updates to the Brown Act. So our office is going to all the boards and commissions to provide a brief update as to those changes and a couple of reminders about the Brown Act. You've seen this statement before. The Brown Act purpose is we conduct simply all of our business in public on the dais. Here's another, the first of the updates. All of your meetings are open and public. Anyone can attend these. The law now requires that all cities must provide two-way telephonic or audiovisual public access, meaning access on the internet starting July 1st. Just want to let you know we've been doing this since COVID, so we've been in compliance with this law for some time. The Brown Act creates certain minimum procedural requirements for conducting these meetings, and one of these is the boards adopt rules for conduct of the business. Effective July 1st, the law now requires us to wait an hour if there's disruption of the internet or our telephone access for the public, and during that hour we have to make good faith efforts to restore that service. if after an hour we've been unable to restore that service then you as a board have to make a motion to decide whether or not to continue with the meeting despite the fact that the the public at home can't listen and you must make a formal motion adopt it by a majority, and it has to be done by a roll call vote. And the city council is going to be adopting this as a city policy at their last meeting in June. So I just want to make you aware of that. There's always been some questions as to what we do when the live feed goes down. A meeting is any congregation of the majority of the members of the Parks and Rec Commission. So this means not only when you're sitting up here on the dais, but perhaps if a quorum of you is present at another location or you are communicating through email. So again, we just want to remind you, please don't email each other in advance of a meeting. It's fine to contact one of you individually as long as it's not a quorum. So when you get an email, don't hit reply all. And I just want to warn you about that. SB 707, which is the law that the government signed into law in October, it clarifies rules for permitted informational communications, and that would include one-way communications from your staff as to particular issues. and certain social media activity, which we'll go over. But again, continue to treat your social media interactions as high risk to avoid inadvertent serial meetings, and I'll give you an example of that. So a serial meeting is a series of communications. For example, if your chair calls the vice chair and says, hey, this particular item is going to be heard tonight. Here's how I'm going to vote. How are you going to vote? Okay, you call a couple more members and see how they're going to vote. Make sure you tell them how I'm going to vote. That would be developing a collective concurrence. Now, city staff is allowed to brief you one-on-one. The law emphasizes that that can be allowed. But the city staff cannot take how you're going to vote and then go to different members and say, this is how the chair is voting. What do you think? So we're very careful about not developing that collective concurrence. and the thing to remember about social media you can post something on your personal social media page say on your facebook page the part your commission is considering this item tonight but other members of the commission you cannot comment publicly upon that posting So if your chair says we're considering this item tonight and then you say on Facebook do a thumbs up and the entire world can see that thumbs up, that's considered a Brown Act violation. You can respond individually. You just can't respond in a way that the entire public can see what your reaction is to that social media post. And that was clarified by this new law. The public has a right to address you at any meeting on any subject that's within your subject matter jurisdiction. And now the law requires that we have remote participation through a two-way remote access. And the city's been doing this for a number of years, but it's now been codified. You can impose reasonable restrictions upon public comment as long as it's not too broad and doesn't constitute prior restraints. You can ask a member to not speak on a matter that's not within your subject matter jurisdiction or from addressing comments to just one individual. Sometimes you'll see that, particularly at city council meetings, someone will come in and say, I only want to talk to the mayor or this council member, and they at times will say, please make your comments to the entire council. City Council, and the same holds true for your commission. You can require members of the public to fill out speaker cards, but they don't have to do so. If they choose to not do so, they still have the right to make a public comment, and the update in the law provides that this also applies to people calling in remotely. They don't have to give their name. They don't have to say where they live. You can ask them for it. But if they refuse, they still have the right to make the comment. And the city is very rigorous about that. We allow everyone to make a comment. We can regulate the total amount of time. Three to five minutes is what is generally accepted. And usually, commissions have their board chair enforce that time limit. Here is a new accessibility requirement. We are required to conduct outreach to determine whether or not at least 20% of our population is not fluent or does not speak English well, but perhaps speaks another language. And if that occurs, then we have to translate the agenda. We do not reach that 20% threshold, although we do translate city council agendas into Spanish. And all of our agendas now must include remote access details, and you'll see that on your agenda, how to call in through the telephone or through Zoom. You've seen this before, agenda requirements. You have to have a specific time and location of your meeting and a brief general description of each item to be discussed. If it's not on the agenda, you can't discuss it and you can't act upon it, but there are exceptions. You can make brief responses to statements or questions posed by the public. You can ask questions for clarification from your staff. You can ask for factual information. You can ask for staff to report back on something or to agendize something on your next meeting. or you can announce what you have done for the week. That doesn't have to be specifically noted on the agenda. So again, there are exceptions, but we always encourage, try to stick to the agenda because that way the public has a fair chance to understand what's going to be discussed. You may have noticed that you're receiving your agendas a little closer to the agenda meeting time instead of 12 days advance notice now. This board is required to do a 72 hours, which is three business days before the date of the meeting, not 72 hours. And that was a recent change to our Sunshine Ordinance. We still have the ability to supplement the agenda 72 hours before the regular meeting, and there are a couple instances where we can do that, you know, emergencies, corrections, information that wasn't known to us at the time of publication. So you may see that. A new rule regarding remote participation, you do have the ability because this board meets at least once a month, you can participate remotely twice a year under certain circumstances. And if you have a disability that prohibits you from attending a meeting in public, you can attend all of your meetings remotely. So, regarding disability, you have to use both audio and video, meaning you keep your camera on and you have to disclose any adults who are over 18 at your remote location. So, if you have that disability, work with your staff person or the city clerk and we'll make sure that you comply with the law. I don't have this in the slide, but I just wrote this down beforehand. Here are the reasons that you can participate remotely, and that would be caregiving both for a child or for an older member of your family, travel on official city business or for another governmental entity. You have a contagious illness, you're ill, you're immunocompromised, or you're serving in the military. I just wanted to share those with you. Regarding the updates to the Sunshine Ordinance, only the committees named have to have both audio and visual. This board is only required to have an audio recording, but we do the visual as well through the Riverside TV. And lastly, you should have gotten an update as to digital misconduct, which is a new addition to our code of ethics. And we want to emphasize how narrow this prohibited conduct is. It has to be that you have done online activity that creates or appears to create a bias or a partisanship or a predisposition to deciding on a city matter. You have to be acting in your official capacity. It has to be within... the subject matter jurisdiction of your board it has to be a quasi-judicial proceeding meaning that you're having a hearing either to deprive someone of a right or to grant someone a right and you have to be using an official city account and this likely will not apply to you because you don't have an official city email unlike some of our city council members so i just want to give you some background on that in case that that that does come up and with that i'm happy to answer any questions

Yeah, I'm sure. Please, go ahead.

I've got one question. On the part you were talking about the meetings, many years ago when I was on the Parks and Rec Commission, after the meeting, if the meeting went smoothly and quickly, you would quite often, as a board, or as a commission, go to a restaurant and have dinner together. Is that unacceptable under the Brown Act?

So the Brown Act provides that you can certainly gather together, even though it's more than a quorum at a social event, as long as you don't discuss any items that are within your subject matter jurisdiction. So it's fine to meet. Just don't talk about anything that would be discussed on the dais.

Okay, thank you. I just didn't want to stir up trouble.

A good question.

Okay, thank you.

I think he just offered to take us all to dinner. Anybody else have any questions? All right. Thank you so much.

Great. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

Okay. Moving right along, the arts and cultural affairs update.

Good evening. I am Margie Haupt, the Deputy Director, Arts and Cultural Affairs. And I am here to give you a presentation. And because of circumstances and everything, it's pretty much an annual update that I am giving you. But we have been doing a lot of different and very cool and exciting things over the past year. And one of the most exciting things and one of the things we are most proud of is the city of Riverside, we became one of the newest arts and cultural districts for the state of California. 10 were designated for the state of California. so in total we have 24 within the state of California 74 applied 52 got down to the application process 20 got a site visit and then we were one of ten that were designated and we got a big whopping ten thousand dollars Woo hoo. So it is really about the designation and the opportunities it provides. And one of the very cool parts of this is it does provide opportunities for developers in regards to housing. It does give them opportunities to go after funding for housing within a half a mile outside and within the arts and culture district. So this is some of our core group of arts and cultural institutions and this was the site visit we had in October or November, I can't even remember. Anyway, but we had our site visit and then we were designated in December. So very proud of that recognition for our community and we will see great things come from that and get great opportunities for our community because of that. And then Teach Marine was recognized at the State of California. One of 10 arts and culture highlights where representatives were represented at the 50th anniversary of the California Arts Council. And in that room, I don't know if you can see, in the middle picture on the right and left at the very end are the governors. The governor who started the program, Jerry Brown, and the governor who is the current governor, Gavin Newsom. And one, Jerry Brown, looked really good for his age. But really, this room was full of movers and shakers in regards to the arts and culture community. And it was great to see Cheech getting recognized on the floor. And a really good to know that he talks about and represents us so well everywhere we go. And we had great conversations with funders and organizations all across the state to talk about what we're doing here in Riverside and continue to do. So just some numbers to talk about that happened over this past fiscal year. 77 special event permits were processed and approved. 33 events happened out on the Greer Pavilion, which is upstairs on the seventh floor. 27 arts and culture grants were given out to arts and cultural organizations, two public art grants, 15 presentation talks or tours, seven special projects or events, and 26 film permits. And you'll see some pictures later on to give examples of what those are. So one of the programs, special programs we have done and started with Riverside County Office of Education and Inlandia is the Teen Poet Laureate Program. And so Inlandia gets writers to evaluate the poems. Riverside County Office of Education does the marketing and we host and then have an artist create the poem into artwork. And this was the winner this year. And so one of our highlights is seeing the teens getting recognized, and they get published in a book. And it's very exciting to see a teen at 15, 16, 17 getting published in a book. So that was exciting. um this was our arts and culture district bridge unveiling you can see it on lime street if you drive down and the reason why i put this picture in all of these are city employees and the artist who did it and why i put this picture in is it takes more than the arts and cultural staff to make arts and culture work in a city It takes everyone. It takes the city manager. It takes the streets person who puts the barricades down. It takes the parks and rec director to support us. It takes the marketing person. It takes the city council person. It takes the assistant city manager. It takes the PIO. And that's who you see represented in this. And that's why we're so successful with our arts and culture in the city of Riverside. So also, 9-11 is this very special event in our city. We were the only city in the community. Sorry, are you at? Our emergency operation program was the only program that was flying on 9-11 to go back to New York that flew out of our emergency operations center. So 9-11 is special for our fire department in good and bad ways, but it is recognized and shared for us to celebrate and remember. And so we were able to have this special program downtown this past year. We also were able to have the grand opening of Tim Strack Park. If you were able to come, you got a cute pair of socks, obnoxious socks if you were there, because Tim was known to wear obnoxious socks under his uniform. His supervisors weren't too keen on that, so that's why it was funny we gave those away. Anyway, that park was filled up from the moment it opened, and so that was exciting to see. And so with each of the wards, they had money allotted to do events or programs. And because there are so many events that happened in ward one, the council member really didn't want to add another event in ward one. So he did some projects. He did do one event, and it was the 50th anniversary of City Hall. And so that picture on my left is actually all of the living council members and mayors that were in attendance, which was pretty amazing. then on the right and you will see on the wall we refreshed the council chambers with new draping behind you before that was paper seal so fix that put new flags up did some things around here you will see the rain cross out on the corner of 9th and main as well Ward 2, we did a color run around Day of the Dead. We had about 1,000 runners. Hunter Hobby, the railroad wasn't too keen on us being there, so we might need to rethink that if we move forward with it this year, but people loved it. It was a great success there, and people had a great time, and that was in partnership with the roadrunners who helped us put that together. And so Ward 3 helps with planes and treats. These were some of the cutest kids I saw. And so we had easily 10,000 kids. Easily 10,000 kids. And they got to trick or treat around the planes and had lots of fun. So, but these were some of the cutest ones I saw. There was lots of kids there, but these were the ones I liked. So and then Ward 4 was wondering what to do. He hadn't decided what to do. And then he was going to do a project.

And probably he's not getting anything done.

But that's OK. He had those other plans. Ward 5 had a fall festival at Vegas Park with a car show, all sorts of activities, music, a petting zoo, lots of activities. Ward 6, which was the first time we had a sledding event with snow on the west side of town, I think ever, and sledding under the stars. So we did it on a Friday night. People loved it. This was the second year. It was a great event at Arlanda Park. And then Ward 7, a great event. People loved it. A dog parade, Halloween. They dressed up their dogs, as you can see from the pictures. It was quite a hit. And there was a lot of dogs in costume, is all I have to say. People liked it over in La Sierra. um and then festival of lights obviously we do it we do it big and these are just some of the numbers um and as you may know the mission in hotel and spa has been sold and we will be meeting with the new owners i am not going to say the tribal name because i'm still working on how to pronounce it correctly so i'm just going to say the new owners of the mission in Yeah, we will be meeting with them at the end of the month. We are very excited about what they are looking to do for the Festival of Lights and looking forward to some great opportunities of working with them and seeing what can happen. We are partnering with the Riverside Arts Council and activating areas of White Park and other programs. We had our insect fair. Every year we think it can't get bigger, and it does. We easily had 20,000 plus attendees this year. We've definitely outgrown the library. which means we've outgrown White Park, which was our next location. So we've got to figure out where to go next. The bugs, entomology, people loved it. This is just some highlighted numbers for you. What I loved is the 40 students. People were engaged with them. People love seeing the bugs. Our chef, which you should know, she was a former city clerk here who's gotten into cooking, and now is a chef, and now is a bug chef on the side. And really, just is really exciting, and the biggest, most exciting thing is the cockroach races that the entomology students created, just so you know. And then special event permits, just some of the examples, Day of the Dead, the Mission and Run. Those are just some of the big permits. And then we're replacing and putting in art in a lot of the libraries and community centers. um and then we did a special project with ward 5 at the salvador lara casablanca library in regards to having it be a chicano focused collection so as new exhibits for example come at the cheech we will get the exhibition books and we will have it there we will um Select them, buy them there, and then they will be at that library. But we've replaced all of the artwork. If you've been in some of the libraries, it was like the Reed posters from the 80s. So we've been trying to liven up some of the libraries with local artwork. And then the Greer Pavilion events. If anyone has gone to Poly, it's a big hit for their reunions. It's a big hit for any child's sports program. We have a re-sport or dance group or band group. Anyone, they have all of their events there it seems like right now. Same with North is tending to choose or using the Greer Pavilion as well. We do some community partnerships over the years. We've just developed these that have grown into some really great success. One is Chalk Day with RUSD, which has grown into a really nice event where we have students coming from all over the district, creating great art pieces. And our hope is that we can create a two to three day event over the course of the next few years. Also, a community partnership with Body of Freedom, which is a collaboration of artists and organizations like RCCD and RUSD that really is talking about injustices and the freedoms we're all striving to keep and grow, and really doing some innovative program with the public, with students. And some of this is artwork over at the Center for Social Justice. and do a lot of presentations and really showing off our city and what we do and how we do it. So picture on my left is teachers from all over Riverside County Office of Education, so all over the district. We did a program with them. The top picture are students from RUSD. The bottom picture is international travel agents who are on what we call a FAM tour, which is a familiarization, I can never say that word, tour to just get them. They were going all over the Inland Empire, showing them places so that they can talk to people who are using their services. Also, doing presentations, showing off and talking about who we are and what we do. So recently, we just did multiple presentations at the California Preservation Foundation conference that was here that had over 400 to 700 preservationists from all over the state of California. and talking about how to use a facility in different ways or talked about our community and how we preserve and reuse and do different things and do tours. or that picture in the middle is the city of Carlsbad coming to see how we do things because this form of flattery is doing what we do and stealing ideas. So we're really doing a lot of that with other cities. but really and then this is a picture if you haven't seen it it's the fire curtain and the RMA so I just like to put that in presentations because you're not ever going to see it unless there's a fire and so but really without the support of the Commission and our department and Pamela we won't be able to do what we do and touch the people in the community and the visitors that we do so just wanted to say thank you and if you have any questions happy to answer them

Anyone have any questions? Yeah, Commissioner Dawson.

There we go. Thank you for coming tonight. I've sat through a couple of your presentations before. Let's see. Going forward, finances are important. It would be nice to see a couple of slides in your presentation about your department's finances and how it's all breaking down. I'm interested in seeing how your resources are distributed by ward, because I do believe a lot of resources flow to downtown. Some of that's natural, because there's such a concentration of facilities in ward one. I have a lot of friends who are out in Ward 7. They feel like they're out in the country. And we need to make sure that some city resources, like from the arts, makes it all the way out to all the wards. I know it's been raised in the past and it is controversial. What was our actual line item cost of our part of the Festival of Lights? Do you have any idea?

Yes, roundabout. I can get you the actual number. So we, the city, do pretty much everything. We pull the permit. We do everything outside the Mission Inn. That's all us. It's not us giving money to someone else to do that. It's not us giving money to the Mission Inn to do that. I understand. So is there a cost associated down there? Yeah, roundabout, I'd give you the exact number. I would say between 1.4 and 1.5 million. But last time we did an economic impact study, it was $154.9 million.

That's all hypothetical. Did the mission kick in any money whatsoever for that?

They don't pay us directly. They may put money into their pieces of it. I do not know what that would be.

OK. I've read comments by the past Mission Inn owner that Riverside never did anything for them. It seems like a pretty big number. And it was for how many years?

The budget went up over the years when we first started. OK. That's fine.

But how many years were we participating in this program?

This will be my 23rd year.

OK. The 23rd that you were involved. Were you involved in the first one?

Yes.

Wow. OK.

But the budget the first year was $400,000.

That's very interesting. Okay. All right. Again, in the future, I would like to see finances, because we did discuss the parks finances meeting before last, and we had to reduce some. We had to make some cuts, didn't we? So that's important going forward, because I don't think it's going to get better. Okay. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Anybody else? Okay. Well, I'll go. I work at the County Administrative Center, and the work on the bridge is just gorgeous. I love it. It's nice. That was a pretty drab structure for my 20-some-odd years over there, and it's been nice to see. I really love it. I was also curious, you mentioned expansion into White Park for the Festival of Lights. Can you give us more details about that?

Yes, I can. So in our partnership and our MOU with the Riverside Arts Council, they are going to be doing programming at White Park Thursday through Sundays starting the week after Thanksgiving. So we are finalizing what that programming will look like. I will tell you it will have a lighted maze and some vendors both of food nature and of some artistic nature and some other things some other active programs for children and adults to do there is some discussion we have they have not committed to it yet but they're looking into it that might involve some adult beverages

I was thinking that, but I was like, I don't need to ask that question. So thank you for answering it.

They are looking into it, thinking about it. But really doing some programming, and there will be a small cost to attend that area.

Great. And I think I just wanted to also commend you on the 50th anniversary of City Hall. It was a great event, and the new sculpture is really neat.

It is very neat. We got there, we had a little back and forth on the exact shape and design of it, but it came out to a really, really great piece in a really great color.

I remember watching it drive down the street the day they were bringing it in.

I believe I was painting paint samples upstairs, and General Services was not too keen on me painting paint samples upstairs.

Well, you did a great job. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Yes, please.

Okay. You said that there was an estimate of benefit for Festival of Lights. In that estimate of benefit, did it actually break it down to how much benefit there was to the mission end?

I'd have to go back and look. I can send you the actual study. I'd be happy to send it to the commission. That'd be wonderful. Yeah. We do a study. COVID threw us off, but we actually usually do it every three to five years over the course of the history of Festival of Lights, just so we have an idea of how much sales tax is coming in, how much direct and indirect is coming in. But I'd be happy. I'll get it to Sandra, and she can send it out to the commission.

Okay, I appreciate that. The Tim Strack Park celebration, you're not handling the other park grand openings, are you?

Not necessarily. Sometimes they're done in-house. Yeah, it depends on which ones they are.

How much did that one cost, Tim Strack? And who requested it?

I don't know, but I know some of the support came from the union to pay for some of the things.

I'd like to see a record of that, please.

Okay. Let me see if I can pull that together. The person who, staff-wise, who ran it is on vacation, so it would be a bit. That's fine.

It's not a pressing issue. Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Yes. Yes.

Hi, Marge. Hi. My name's Mark. I'm new, so my questions might be a little naive. But you identified- Commissioner Jones, could you get a little closer to the mic? You identified yourself as a deputy director of arts. Is that a separate department?

No, I'm one of the deputies. So there's parks, recreation, and then arts and culture. So I'm arts and culture. So there's Noemi, who is recreation. There's Anthony, who is parks. And then there is me, who is arts and culture.

So do you have your own staff?

Of six people.

And I heard you mention you've been there 23 years. 22 years. 22?

Yeah.

How do you decide how to allocate funds for your art projects? I mean, does someone vote on it or when you're considering different

It depends on what's going on. Like in particular, if it's things out in Ward 5, 6, or 7, we sort of give them a bump up because we don't have as much down there, like in consideration, because we don't have as much there. So like when we're having libraries, community centers, different things out there, it could be where our resources are. If it's out of grant funding or if it's out of program funding, It depends if it's related to an event or not. We'll work with, if it's in a library or a community center, we'll work with those facilities to see what they want and what their communities want. So when we've put sculpture pieces out, like we put a sculpture piece out at Hull and La Sierra called Five Points. I can't remember the other, Third Street. We had designs and we went out to community events and said, hey, these are the designs. What would you guys like in the community? So as much as possible, we'll engage the community with what they would like. We currently have artists who are working in each of the wards where they have to engage the community. So they're talking with them in different forms, whether that's online, it's at community events, getting their feedback for what that art may be. okay so it's there's no commission it's a process correct okay correct and then does your department or sub department have its own budget or is it just part of park and rec it's a sub like each of our parks has a our division has a budget line item or section um like i don't have just one section i have i have five sections

Okay. And then you mentioned a ballpark for the Festival of Lights was like 1.3? Yeah, 1.4. Is that a big apple in the department's budget or is that nothing?

I would say it's a big apple.

Okay, and then I have two just arts questions. I see things going on around the town. There's the artists that are painting the traffic control boxes. Is that from your department?

It could be a variety of things. Like we facilitate some projects for public works that are happening, or we facilitate some that are happening for other wards, ward projects. So it could be a variety of different ways, but we're involved, yes.

Does the city have anything to do with the individual that's going around town painting dead trees certain colors? No. Okay. Just was wondering. No. Thank you.

I believe he got a letter from the city at some point, and it slowed him down.

Yeah. Frank.

But he plays pickleball now, so I'm happy with it.

Yeah, he stopped painting them a while ago, from my understanding.

On public land, I believe he still does it on private.

I believe that is true.

All right. Any other questions? All right. Great. Moving on to the consent calendar. Oh, and thank you so much. Sorry. Does anyone wish to pull an item from the consent calendar for discussion? I'll take that as a no. All right. Do we have a motion to approve the consent calendar as is? Commissioner Dawson, motion to approve. Seconded by Commissioner Forbes. All right. Please vote.

All right.

Oh, well, I think Commissioner Friedland. Oh, there we go. I see. All right. So it was unanimous for the consent calendar. All right. And then next, I'm going to flip my page here.

Where was I? Oh, that was a concern. Okay. Okay.

Now moving on to the discussion calendar. At this time, we invite the public. Oh, wait. I'm sorry. We're starting with the item. We're going to do the annual review of code of ethics and conduct.

Good evening, chair and also commissioners. My name is Tola Perkins, and I'm representing the Board of Ethics. And I'm here today to go present you the annual review of the code of ethics, Riverside Municipal Code 2.78. Next slide. Purpose of the Code of Ethics and Conduct pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.020 to achieve fair, ethical, and accountable local government for the City of Riverside. Public officials are expected to comply with the provisions of this Code of Ethics and Conduct and shall aspire to meet the standards in the conduct of their responsibility as a public official of the City of Riverside. Next slide. Yes, thank you for that. Yes, I appreciate that. Thank you. So for the scope pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.030, public officials subject to the code. Number one, mayor. Number two, city council members. Number three, all members of appointed boards, commissions, and committees appointed by the city council and or mayor. Next slide. Implementation, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.040. A, upon election, reelection, appointment or reappointment, public officials shall be given copy and required to affirm receipt and understanding. B. Within 90 days of taking office, public officials shall receive training. C. City attorney or designee shall serve as resource to assist public officials in understanding and abiding by the code. Next slide. Implementation continues. D, all bodies whose members are covered by this chapter shall adopt rules of procedure, which includes provisions of this code. E, chair of each board is responsible to provide appropriate guidance to its members, and if needed, communicate concerns to Board of Ethics. F, only those who live, work, including vendors and contractors, or attend school in Riverside may bring a complaint unless alleged violation took place outside city limits and complaining party personally witnessed or observed the alleged violation. I would like to state that the asterisk in blue is adopted by the city council effective of January 27, 2026. Next slide. Core values, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.050. A, to strive to create a government that is trusted by everyone. B, to strive to make decisions that are unbiased, fair, and honest. C, to strive to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and in a just and fair manner. Next slide. continuous of core values. D, to strive to create a community that affirms the value of diversity. E, to strive to ensure that all public decisions are well-informed, independent, and in the best interest of the city of Riverside. F, to strive to maintain a nonpartisan and civic-minded local government. Next slide. Continuous of core values. G, to strive to ensure that all public officials are adequately prepared for the duties of their office. H, to strive to ensure that appointed members of boards, commissions, and committees attend regularly scheduled meetings. Next slide. I would like to take note for the continuous of core values. This particular letter I was adopted by the city council on May 19, 2026. Digital communications must reflect the city's commitment, the city's commitment to impartiality, fairness, and integrity. online activity. Messages or actions should not create or appear to create bias, partisanship, or predisposition on city matters that fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of the public official and are quasi-judicial procedures. Next slide. Going into prohibited conduct, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.060. A, use of official title or position or personal gain, prohibited. B, use of divulgence or confidential or privilege information, prohibited. C, use of city resources for non-city purposes, prohibited. and d advocacy of private interest and third parties in certain circumstances also prohibited e endorsement for compensation prohibited next slide in addition to prohibited conduct F, violation of government code sections 87100, regulating financial interest and governmental decisions made by public officials, prohibited. G, certain political activity, prohibited. H, display of campaign materials in or on city vehicles, prohibited. i knowingly assisting another public official and violating this code of ethics and conduct also prohibited next slide continuous of prohibited conduct j negotiation for employment with any party having a matter pending prohibited k Ex parte contact in quasi-judicial matters prohibited. L, attempts to coerce official duties prohibited. M, violations of local law prohibited. N, convictions of federal or state law affecting their office is also prohibited. I would like to state that O was adopted by the city council on May 19, 2026, which states digital misconduct prohibited. Next slide. Going into written complaint procedures. Proceeding to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.070. A, only alleged violations of prohibited conduct shall be grounds for a complaint. Let's take note that City Council adopted the amendment on January 27, 2026, which goes into this statement here. Complainants are covered by whistleblower policies, and the city will not tolerate nor tolerate retaliation against those who, in good faith, report suspected fraud, waste, or abuse, or participate in any investigation. of a suspected violation. Next slide. Continuous written complaints procedures pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.070. B, complaints are submitted on forms available from the city clerk. C, complaints and evidence are filed with the city clerk. And D, complaints must be filled out completely in accordance with this chapter. Next slide. Continuous of written complaint procedures. E, complaints must be filed no later than one year of alleged violation. F, city clerk reviews for completeness. G, any file complaint not in compliance shall be administratively rejected by the city clerk with the approval of the chair of the board of ethics. Next slide. Going into pre-conference procedures. pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.075. A, complainants may submit one revised complaint only to add additional allegations within 30 days of the original filing. B, city clerk sets matter for a pre-conference for no later than 45 city business days. C, city clerk provides a copy of complaint to public official within 10 calendar days. Next slide. Continuous of pre-conference procedures. D, board of ethics, also known as BOE, conducts a pre-conference prior to a hearing date set by the city clerk. All parties are to attend the pre-conference. However, the absence of a party shall not be grounds for continuance. The pre-conference shall be conducted as follows. One, BOE reviews complaint to determine if it complies with all of the following to establish jurisdiction of the BOE. A, complaint procedures have been followed. B, complaint is against a public official. C, complaint alleges a violation of prohibited conduct. And D, complaint does not restate violations of previous complaint. Next slide. Continuous of pre-conference procedures. Number two, if a majority of the BOE determines that the complaint does not comply with the provisions mentioned in prior slide, the chair states the findings of deficiency and calls for a vote of the BOE to dismiss the complaint without a hearing. The statement of findings is adopted at the next meeting and it is the final decision of the BOE. If a majority of the BOE determines that the complaint complies with all the provisions mentioned in the prior slide, then the pre-conference proceeds. Three, the BOE shall facilitate settlement discussions between the parties by allowing the parties to confer privately to determine if a resolution can be reached. If so, then no hearing is necessary. If not, the pre-conference continues. Next slide. continuous for pre-conference procedures. Four, the BOE reviews the submitted tangible evidence to determine if it is relevant to the issues raised to the complaint. If it is determined by majority vote that such evidence is irrelevant, then such evidence will be deemed inadmissible at the hearing and shall be excluded. Five, the complainant may verbally present any and all evidence that will be presented at the hearing to prove allegations in the complaint. The public officials have some opportunity. Six, the BOE shall determine by majority of vote whether the complainant has shown that the evidence more than likely not shows that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct. Please note this section right here in asterisk blue that I'm reading city council adopted on January 27, 2026, which reads, all evidence shall be taken in its totality with equal rate given to both parties. Next slide. Continuous of pre-conference procedures. Number seven. It is determined by the BOE that the evidence shows it is more likely than not that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct has occurred. Then a hearing panel is selected by random draw of the BOE members to consist of five members and one alternate. The city clerk sets a hearing date for no later than 45 city business days following the pre-conference. Eight, if it is determined by the BOE that the complainant failed to show that it is more likely than not that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct, the chair of the BOE instructs the city clerk to prepare a statement of findings for adoption at the next regular meeting of the BOE. This statement of finance is the final decision of the BOE. Next slide. Going into the hearing procedures. Pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.080. A, public officials shall file a written reply no later than 20 calendar days prior to the hearing date. B, city clerk shall provide copy of written reply to complainant no later than 10 city business after receipt. c board of ethics shall have the authority to adopt hearing procedures not in conflict with this chapter d pre-conferences and hearings on their merits are not formal judicial proceedings technical rules of evidence do not apply next slide continuous of hearing procedures e Chair of hearing panel presides over the hearing. F. No new witnesses or evidence other than what was submitted may be introduced at the hearing unless hearing panel determines complainant discovered after the filing. G. Prior to commencement of the hearing, either party may ask for a continuance. H, only one continuance of the hearing shall be granted to each party. Next slide. Continuous hearing procedures. I, complainant goes first and shall have burden of proof by preponderance of the evidence. J, public. Official proceeds second and may make an opening and closing statement. Examine witnesses, evidence, and introduce rebuttal evidence. K, neither party shall be allowed to examine the other party, however, may cross-examine. L, hearing panel may ask questions of the parties or witnesses. M, parties may present rebuttal evidence. Next slide. Continuous of hearing procedures. N, upon conclusion of evidence presented, the chair shall facilitate verbal deliberations by the hearing panel. All findings shall be approved by majority vote and panel shall direct city clerk to prepare statement of findings or designate members to prepare statement of findings to include recommendation for sanctions. Panel must approve within 30 city business days. P. Within five city business days of approval, city clerk notifies all parties in writing of the decision of the hearing panel and the appeal procedures. Next slide. Continuous of hearing procedures, Q. No member of the Board of Ethics who is to complain of a subject of the complaint shall sit as a member of the hearing panel. are neither the complainant, not the public official against whom the complaint is filed, shall be represented at the hearing by an attorney. Although an attorney may be present and consulted at the hearing, the attorney shall not address the hearing panel or participate in any aspect of the hearing. Next slide. Going into appeal procedures pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.090. A, a decision of the hearing panel may be appealed to the city council. Appeals of previous conference decisions may only be appealed if the appeal is based upon a clear procedural error. Appeals are filed in writing with the city clerk within 10 city business days following the date of the decision. Appellant must specify the clear procedural error or abuse of discretion. The city clerk shall place the appeal on a city council agenda within 30 city business days. Next slide. continuous appeal procedures pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.090. If there is no appeal, the decision of the hearing panel becomes final and there shall be no further right to appeal. The City Council would then determine if sanctions should be imposed, if applicable. C the record on appeal shall consist of a transcript of the hearing the complaint and tangible evidence and testimony considered at the hearing no new evidence will be received or Considered by the City Council at the hearing on the appeal next slide continuous of appeal procedures D City Council shall review record If no finding of clear procedural error or abuse of discretion, the City Council shall adopt findings of the hearing panel. If there is a finding by the City Council of a clear procedural error or abuse of discretion by the hearing panel, that finding shall be clearly stated and the matter shall be referred back to the hearing panel for a re-hearing to consider the matter in light of the findings of the City Council on the appeal. E, if the city council finds a violation was committed, the city council may determine sanctions. F, city clerk notifies all parties and there is no further right to appeal. Next slide. Continuous of appeal procedures. F, city clerk shall notify all parties of the findings and determination of the city council on the appeal. The findings and determination are final and there is no further right to appeal. G, complaints, replies, supporting documentation, transcripts of hearing, notice of appeal and all decisions thereon shall be public record and retained by the city clerk for a period of two years. H, no public official is a party to a complaint shall participate in the appeal of a decision of the hearing panel and must recuse from participation. Next slide. Enforcement and sanctions. Pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100, upon a finding by a majority of the City Council that any public official violated any provision of the prohibited conduct or no appeal has been made to the Board of Ethics, find such violation the City Council may impose any of the following sanctions. Next slide. Continuous of enforcement and sanctions pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100. A, elected officials. One, public apology by official to complainant. Two, recommendation for training. Three, removal from regional committees. Four, removal from mayor pro tem rotation. Five, public censure. Or six, restrict from traveling to attend meetings, conferences outside the city limits. Next slide. continuous of enforcement and sanctions pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100. B, appointed officials of boards, commissions, and committees. One, public apology by the official to the complainant. Two, recommendation for training. Three, referral to the board, commission, or committee of which the appointed official is a member for public censure. Four, public censor by the mayor and city council. Five, removal from chair, vice chair, or other leadership positions. Or six, removal from office as provided by city charter. Next slide. Monitoring and oversight pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.110A. Prior to end of July each year, the boards and commissions shall agendize and discuss at a regular meeting the effectiveness of this Code of Ethics and Conduct Code and make recommendations to the Board of Ethics for consideration. B, prior to the end of August, Board of Ethics shall discuss effectiveness of this code, consider Board Commission recommendations, and submit recommendations for amendments to the Governmental Process Committee's BGPC for consideration. C, prior to end of September, the GPC shall discuss effectiveness of this code and instruct the City Manager to present a report to the City Council for its discussion and consideration. D, prior to end of the year, the chair of the GPC shall present a report to the city council at a public hearing in the evening. The city council shall make an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of this code and consider those recommendations of the BOE, boards, commissions, and GPC. The city council shall direct city attorney to make any changes to the code it deems appropriate. Next slide. At this time, this ends the presentation at the recommendation that the Park and Recreation Commission, you fellow commissioners, Discuss and review the Code of Ethics and conduct for its effectiveness and forward any recommendations or recommended revisions to the Board of Ethics for consideration. Again, I'm representing the Board of Ethics. My name is Tola Perkins, and I thank you for all your time, Commissioners and Chair. I thank you as well.

Thank you, Ms. Perkins. Does anybody have any questions? Yes, Mr. Dawson.

Good evening. I appreciate you coming. That was How many times have you had to give that presentation?

I have more to go and so far. I think this was number six.

I Hope you get a gift card That's worth a couple coffee cards at least you get geared up Remember we're talking about the code of ethics But thank you Commissioner Dawson.

I

Everybody needs to be fortified so I could fall under that category. There was, let's see, how would I describe this? In the section on core values, I think it was page five of your presentation.

Please go to page 15.

It was something that was newly adopted. No. Core values? It was in core values. It was towards the beginning of your presentation. No. It would be all in blue because it was newly adopted.

Let's go to page.

Right.

There it is. Yes. Core values.

Adopted May 19, 2026. Correct. Can you elaborate on this, please?

So I must reference our city attorney that was here prior to me. And this is the same core values piece that she was speaking upon when she was talking about the online and how you all reference when you have your personal Facebook page or social network pages. This is the one that she's speaking about where you have to be impartial to those communications.

Okay.

I also wanna reflect that in your package, you should also have the entire Board of Ethics inside your agenda package for this section two, for digital.

Okay, very good. Okay. All right, thank you very much. That makes sense.

All right. I just, before we have any more comments, I realized I forgot to ask for public comments. So at this time, we invite the public comment regarding the item. The public is invited to participate in person or by calling 951-826-8688 to comment on this item. Press star 9 to be placed in the queue and star 6 to speak. To participate by Zoom, select the raise hand function to speak. You will have three minutes. Do we have any commenters?

All right.

Great. Done. All right. Anyone else have any questions? All right. Well, thank you so much for your presentation.

I thank you all, Commissioners, and thank you, Chair. Have a good evening. Bye-bye.

All right. What was it? Do we have a motion to approve? Motion from Commissioner Schaffer.

Second.

Commissioner Johnson seconds. Are we ready to vote? Use the right one. Alright, the motion passes unanimously. All right. Thank you. We'll move now on to communications. And I think to make things easier for Sandra, we're going to try doing this in order. So we'll kind of move down the line. So updates from conferences, seminars, and regional meetings attended by commissioners. So Commissioner Forbes.

GOOD EVENING. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND THE PARK AND WRECKS RECOGNITION LUNCH AND IT WAS A FABULOUS EVENT AND I ENJOYED IT IMMENSELY.

COMMISSIONER DAWSON.

I HAVE NOTHING TO REPORT THIS MONTH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

COMMISSIONER JONES.

I don't have anything to report either. Sorry about that.

Commissioner Friedlander? Same. All right. And Johnson?

I as well attended the lunch, and it was a great experience to see all the people that were working so hard for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Commissioner Schaffer?

I also have nothing.

All right. And I also attended the event. And I also kind of wanted to recognize Commissioner Forbes because I know he attends more than anybody else. And I was impressed to see him there. It was fun hanging out. And it was neat seeing him interact with the staff who obviously enjoy his company as well.

All right.

Next is the, there we go. Items on future park and recreation commissions. Consideration as requested by members of the commission. Only items that fall within the powers and duties of the Parks and Recreation Commission and set forth by the city charter and or the Riverside Municipal Code will be agendized for future discussion. Do we have any items? Yeah, Commissioner Dawson.

It's in the news that the STEM high school proposed by UCR and RUSD has been canceled. The location for that project was on current lease. City Parks property at the corner of Canyon Crest and Blaine. So I would like to know what is the status of that lease in that location? Was that property included in our overall park inventory? If UCR retains the property or cancels our lease, retains the property, that removes that much acreage from our inventory? Do we need to make that up elsewhere? Is there an opportunity to extend the lease? So these are the questions I'm looking for answers to.

Yeah, Commissioner, we can report back on that. That property is owned by UCR, is not owned by us. But it was leased by us. It was in the past. It is not now. However, we will find more information. We'll bring that information back to you.

If there's an opportunity to continue a lease for whatever period of time, that's valuable park property. It's well used by numerous groups throughout the community. It's the location of the annual Medicine Ways Powwow, for example, that was only a few weeks ago. It would be a great loss to that organization if they weren't able to continue.

Right. I don't believe that we have anything to do with that. We will bring this back to you. I do not believe that we have programmed that land as long as I've been here, but we will bring more information to you.

Okay, excellent. I look forward to that. Thank you. Great.

Anyone else?

yes okay this morning i went golfing at fairmont park at the golf course and it is in really sad condition right now part of it is flooded and it has been flooded for months but now today with the warm weather the grass is all dying and it is really and what amazed me was usually it's usually pretty crowded on a monday morning and this morning there were very few people playing, and that affected my experience quite a bit. So I'd like to ask, what's going to be happening at Fairmont Golf? Okay. Thank you.

Yeah, absolutely. Anything else? Okay. Item 10 is commissions and or city staff announcements. Does anybody have any announcements to make?

And I have several announcements. Okay. Yes, to just keep you all up to speed. Well, first of all, I'll start with Fairmont Golf Course. Yes, we have had a serious flooding issue there. We are working on the drainage system. And so we are trying to resolve that at Fairmont Golf Course. And in addition, the irrigation at the golf course is fed through a well. And the well is in disrepair. So we are repairing the well as quickly as we can. So two separate problems there at the golf course. Too much water over here and not enough water over here. So that's the state of it. But we are addressing both of those issues. And so I have several announcements. So just to keep the commission up to speed, we have several projects under construction. At Bobby Bonds Park, the library, the new library is going up. It's quite impressive. We're also under construction of renovation of the Cesar Chavez Community Center. That restoration project is going along very nicely. We are also scheduling meetings with the community to talk to them about the name of that center, how we should address that. I also want to let you know right around the corner, Patterson Park is under full renovation. If you get a chance to go by Patterson Park, it's quite impressive. In addition, Boardwell Gym is under construction. So right in that area, there is really going to be a lot of impressive projects. In addition to that, we're renovating the skate park at Bobby Bonds Park. I wanted to mention a few items going to the council. I know that in the last couple meetings you had requested knowing about this. Tomorrow, we have several items that are going to the City Council. It's the agreement for the sauce, which is the printer for activity guide. We're awarding a contract to replace the playground at Riverwalk. We are awarding a contract for Mariposa landscaping services. We're also awarding a contract for janitorial services. I also want to mention that tomorrow night, oh, wait, one more. We're accepting a grant for Operation Splash from Kaiser. This pays for children to learn swim lessons. It's a wonderful program. I'd also like to mention that RPU is bringing an item about energy efficiency and public benefit fund for community services. And so we are hoping to gain some of this funding for Nichols Park. So you may remember a while ago the deaf community came to us wanting a Deaf Cultural Center. So we have identified Nicholas Park would be the perfect location for this. We are hoping to get some funding from RPU on this we're also applying for several grants Those grants are from the Strategic Growth Council and from California State Parks. These are all prop for funding sources I also want to mention that next time at Council we have two items going it's a special transportation item and also at least agreement for Solander Youth Center at Bryant Park and But next council meeting on the 23rd, the council is bringing three significant items. One is our fees and charges. The other is the CDBG allocations. And then, of course, the other one is the budget. So that's going to be a really big council meeting. I'd like to just update you briefly on some of the other grants we're applying for. We did submit a grant for Fairmont Park. for urban greening. We're planting trees and putting in sidewalks for people to enjoy that. On La Sierra, we're actually applying for a grant for a new pool at La Sierra Park. We are also applying for additional funds for Martha McClain and Zanarros. We have received $6 million in funding for that, but we're applying for grants for an additional $6 million. And we're also applying for grants for Mission Ranch. This is out in Ward 4. We're having a lot of community meetings for all of these grants. We're actually talking to the community about all of these properties. In the future, for Council, we're going to be awarding the Gage Canal Trail, a huge project we've been working on for years. We're also going to be awarding the contract for the armory. This is the renovation of the shell of the building for the armory. We're awarding the bid for the lower playground at Orange Terrace. And then also we hope to be awarding a bid soon for the Bobby Bonds pool deck. So Bobby Bonds Park is going to get a new library, a new community center, a new skate park, and hopefully improvements to the pool. So that's a lot.

Yeah.

Yes, that's what I'm, and so now getting into activities, we have a lot of activities coming up. There was a mention made about Ward 6 and Ward 7, and I'll have you know that we're having a ward event in Ward 7 at La Sierra Park, and it is the first ever drone show. And it is Wednesday night of this year, this month. So please come out, listen to the concert, get something good to eat, and then the drone show starts at 9 o'clock. we're also going to be having our volunteer recognition at that time we have a lot of free swim coming up for our community at all the different parts we also have our concert series starting then moving over to Fairmont Park every Wednesday night and then on July 1st we're also having a drone show at Fairmont Park I think that's it. So we have a lot going on this summer. Is there any questions about any of that? Yes, sir.

Just a couple. Yeah. At the risk of sounding dopey, where's Mission Ranch?

Yeah, well, it's a vacant land. So it's out there.

There's a Mission Ranch Road kind of like King High?

Yes, it's very near there. And it's a plot of land that we own that's undeveloped. It's not far from Orange Terrace. And so we are applying for grants to develop that into parkland. And we're having community meetings to understand from the community what they would like to see.

Cool. And also the drone show at Fairmont. July 1st. Right. So I know there's like a lot of trees. Where's the hot tip where you can see it?

So we've gone out there and scoped it out. So it's kind of over closer to the playground by the restroom is the sweet spot to see the drones. And so what we'll do is halfway through the concert... We'll put up a drone and say, okay, everybody, that's where the drone show is going to be. You might want to relocate your blanket to see it because we do have a lot of beautiful trees at Fairmont Park.

Yeah, please.

Good evening, Director. Hey, I'd like to make sure that I'm on the contact list for that Chavez name meeting. I'd like to be noticed and I'd like to attend that. Yes. With a lot of these projects going forward, we're going to make sure that they are meeting our strategic goals for sustainability. Of course. The HVAC systems need to be heat pump and not natural gas.

Yes. Actually, the item that is going tomorrow is the funding is energy efficiency and public benefits fund. So our plan is especially for, so the answer is yes to all of them. But for Nichols, we're actually considering LEED certification. And that building will be a demonstration project for sustainability.

Excellent. I wish we'd been able to do that with all the other community centers that we upgraded the HVACs using the ARPA money. That was a lost opportunity. Writing grants for undeveloped park. Again, it's how are you measuring community request for taking on a project? I have undeveloped park. I have two in my neighborhood.

We are doing a survey of the community, an online survey, like a Survey Monkey, something like that, and then we're actually going to community meetings. So, for instance, at the La Sierra pool project, we'll be at La Sierra for the concert, asking people their opinions.

The new pool, is that going to be heat pump heated or natural gas?

It'll be sustainable.

The contractor for the Chavez Center, in a side conversation with him, he said, hey, you guys should always look at heat pump heating or solar, you know, for swimming pools. We've done a couple of those, and the payback is really short. It makes sense.

Okay, we'll take that into consideration.

Okay, great. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

All right, any other items? All right, thank you. The next regular Parks and Recreation Commission meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 20, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. Meeting is now adjourned at 7.55.