City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. The time now is 4.48 on August 26, 2026. I would like to convene the City Council Successor Agency to the Westminster Redevelopment Agency meeting. The meeting is now called to order. Roll call, please.

Mayor Nguyen.

I'm here.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Here.

District 1, Councilwoman Pan-West. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

I'm here.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

I'm here.

Mayor Yabokorum with District 1, Councilwoman Pan-West absent.

All right, thank you. Next is oral communication for closed session. Before we go into that, I believe that the senior attorney or the senior manager have the work on item.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. As you know, the city has the authority to add something to the closed session, and staff recently became aware after this agenda was posted, staff became aware of a need to add an item to discussion of closed session. So staff is requesting that you add the following to the agenda. It would indicate conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, initiation of litigation pursuant to government code section five four nine five six point nine d four one potential case so it would you would need to make the following finding number one that this matter came to the attention after the agenda was posted and number two that it is urgent that this matter uh be considered in closed session all right since uh this is a work on item we need to have four votes on that so i move to approve a second all right go please

District 2, Council Member Monzo?

Yes.

District 4, Council Member Nguyen?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Motion carried 4-0.

At this time, would you please go ahead and read the items that we are going to go into the closed session.

The City Council will recess to a closed session for the following purposes. Conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, government code section 54956.9 , name of case, Westminster versus Nicole Brown, OC Superior Court case number 30-2025-1495463-CU-FR-CJC, Number two, conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation, significant exposure to litigation pursuant to government code 54956.9D2, number of potential cases, two. And then the third item, conference with legal counsel. That's what I previously described.

Yes.

Okay. So it would be those three items. And then before you adjourn to closed session, I will note for the record that there is nobody in attendance, so there's no need. hear from the public unless there's somebody online?

We have no speakers via Zoom.

Very good. All right, thank you very much. At this time, the City Council will recess for the closed session. We'll come back at six o'clock. Good evening. The time now is 6.07 on August 26, 2026. I would like to reconvene the City Council Successor Agency to the Westminster Redevelopment Agency meeting. The meeting is now called to order. Roll call, please.

Mayor Nguyen.

I'm here.

Vice Mayor Nguyen. Here. District 1, Councilwoman Fen West. Fen West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

I'm here.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

I'm here.

Mayor Yabokoram, with all members present.

All right, thank you very much, and salute to the flag today. It will be District 2, Councilmember Menzo, and invocation by District 1, Councilmember Amy Fen West. Please stand.

Ready, begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing with me to pray. Lord Jesus, we just thank you so much for this time to serve the people and make decisions that will move our city forward and to consider the resident and the people, Westminster and the businesses. And Lord, I pray that you give us wisdom to make those decisions that are right for the people. And I pray that you just be with us and guide us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thank you, Council Member Mezzo and Council Member West, for the salute to the flag and invocation. Next is the attorney. Closed session report, please.

In closed session, we discussed each of the items that appears on the agenda. For those of you that were not here, we added an item to that discussion. There's nothing to report out on that item. There is one matter that correction, actually, the item that was added was to authorize the initiation of litigation. And the city attorney was given the authority to initiate litigation. And let's see, the city will Let's see. The authority was granted and that the particulars of who the city is suing will once formally commence be disclosed to any person upon inquiry unless to do so would jeopardize the city's ability to effectuate service and process on one or more unserved parties or that to do so would jeopardize its ability to conclude existing settlement negotiations. That's not what's happening here. That concludes my report.

All right, now come to export communication, including SB 1439 report when required. Is there anything from that? Hearing none, seeing none, so moving on to city code report, please.

Mayor, I have nothing to report.

All right, thank you. Then next is city manager report, please.

Okay.

Next year, we are celebrating our 70th anniversary. So today, we are launching our 70th anniversary logo contest. This contest is open to Westminster residents, students, and eligible businesses with a separate general and K through 12 categories. Winners will receive prizes, including $500 in local gift cards for the general category or commemorative merchandise for the K through 12 category. Entries are due September 23rd, and for more information, visit the City's website or call Community Services at 714-895-2860. Okay, with the hot summer days here, and we mean hot, the Sigler Park Splash Pad is the perfect place to cool off and have some fun. Located at 7200 Plaza Street, the Splash Pad is open daily through September 7th with free public hours from 12 to 5 p.m. So bring the family and enjoy a refreshing break from the really summer heat. And then just an update, the Signal Box Art Program is currently accepting applications. We're inviting Westminster artists to help transform traffic signal boxes across the city into public art. Individuals, groups, and school groups are all welcome to apply, and selected artists receive a $750 stipend to bring their design to life. If you're ready to apply, full details, requirements, and the application form are available at the city's website. Applications close on September 17 at 5 p.m. and we've just closed out our summer movies and concert series but that means that we are just around the corner from our fall festival so get ready for four exciting days of fun food entertainment and community as the fall festival returns september 24th through the 27th right behind us at the Western Service Civic Center. This year's festival is bigger than ever, featuring all the fall festival favorites, carnival rides for all ages, live entertainment, delicious food, unique vendors, and family-friendly activities, along with some exciting new experiences. New this year, Look to the skies for a spectacular fall festival drone show on Friday. Experience the beauty and tradition of our moon lantern celebration on Saturday. And join us for a special cultural night celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, kicking off the event on Thursday. This year's festival will also feature a patriotic theme as we continue celebrating America's 250th anniversary. So whether you come for the rides, music, food, cultural celebrations, or just have a great time weekend with your family and friends, There's going to be something for everyone. If you want to be part of the festival, we're currently accepting applications for sponsors, vendors, and entertainers through August 28th. So for more information, contact Community Services, 714-895-2860. And seniors, of course, we can't have a city manager report without a Senior Center event. Seniors, join us for a sweet afternoon at a free ice cream social on Thursday, September 10th from 1230 to 130 p.m. So come cool off, enjoy a tasty treat, spend time with friends, and reserve a ticket at the Senior Center front desk or by calling 714-895-2878. So obviously a lot going on in Westminster. That concludes my report for tonight.

All right, thank you very much, City Manager. So next, before I move into special presentation, which I like the most, I would like to welcome each and every one of you to the City Council meeting tonight. Thank you for taking the time out this evening to be here. So special presentation, a presentation of Proclamation Hunger Action Month, September 2026. The month of September has been designated Hunger Action Month in order to bring attention to food insecurity in our communities and to enlist the public in the movement to end hunger by taking action, including volunteering, donating, and advocating to ensure every community and everybody in it has the food they need to thrive. The City of Westminster is committed to taking steps to combat hunger in every part of our city and to provide additional resources that those in Westminster need. Unfortunately, Liz Andrade, Executive Director of 211 Orange County, was unable to attend tonight's meeting. So we will be sure that they will receive this proclamation. So again, thank you very much. Moving on to the overall communication concerning agenda items only. And I want to remind you that this is the oral communication for agenda items only. So city club, would you please read the instruction for the record?

This is the time of the meeting that members of the public may address the City Council regarding any items on the agenda, except public hearing items. Members of the public wishing to address public hearing items shall do so at the time of the public hearing. Unless otherwise extended by a majority vote of the City Council, comments shall be limited to three minutes per speaker. Any person wishing to address the city council in person should complete a green speaker slip, which are provided at the entrance to council chambers and submit the card to city clerk staff. When your name is called, please step to the podium at that time and state your name and city of residence for the record. Pursuant to Senate Bill 707, this meeting is being conducted with both in-person and teleconference participation. The City will accept public communications from both in-person and remote participation. Public comments will be taken first from those attending in-person, followed by those participating remotely. Once all in-person comments have been completed, the City Clerk staff will announce the name or last four numbers of the telephone number of the individual who have requested to provide public comment remotely. Remote public commenters will receive the same time allotment as members of the public commenting in person. First speaker is Angela Ward, followed by Mary Ann Hearn.

Will you please step to the podium?

to participate in theatrical productions at the Rose Center Theater. We've sold out, and so literally we've brought thousands of people that didn't know about just what the charm and the culture that this city offers. We have served special needs students. We are an inclusive Christian community that provides family entertainment, and our students have been so enriched by the professionalism and frankly, the culture that the Rose Center Theater staff offers. Moreover, the lobby has become a beloved and treasured site for our annual art shows, which are also open to the public. And I believe so strongly in the words of George Washington, that for freedom to exist in a republic, theater must be an essential part of it. The Rose is a gem, a crown upon the head of this city. It is a rare institution. It's difficult to find in any area in Southern California an institution like the Rose Center Theater. When my family and I attend the productions outside of my contract with the Rose as a school, we always meet people that literally have traveled hours to enjoy the productions. It represents the city very well. And I implore you not to take away something that has become a beloved tradition for a small Christian liberal arts high school in Orange County. I think that the Rose Center Theater is something that needs to continue for generations. Thank you so much for your time.

Next speaker, Mary Ann Hearn, followed by Tom Orr.

Good evening, Mayor and council members. My name is Mary Ann Hearn, and I'm here tonight as a member of this community and a proud supporter of the Rose Center Theater. My husband and I have been supporting the theater for more than 10 years. We first became involved because our own children were involved, and they were in projections here at the theater. They are grown women now, but our involvement has continued. The theater isn't just a building to us. It's a place where our daughters grew up, where we volunteered side by side, and where we've watched countless young people gain confidence, develop talents, and build lifelong friendships. And it has become part of our family's story. Through the years, we've seen firsthand the positive impact that this theater has on our community. It provides opportunities for children, teens, and adults to learn, to create, and to belong It brings families together. And I believe the Rose Center Theater has been a tremendous success and made a lasting, positive contribution to Westminster. Closing this theater would be a significant loss for our community. Therefore, I do recommend strongly that we keep the theater open under the current tenant, the Friends of the Rose Center Theater. As members of the city council, you have the responsibility to make decisions that the center, that Westminster, and improve the quality of life for all residents. Please help preserve this special place for future generations. And as you can see in our own chamber, a high percent of diversity here representing the theater. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Next speaker, Tom Orr, followed by Don Anderson.

Hello, my name is Tom Orr. I am here not as someone who possesses a deep understanding of city government, nor do I count myself an expert at this type of public speaking. I am here as someone long affiliated with the Rose Center Theater, as an audience member and a performer. But my words here are not performative. Please note, if you will, the lack of costume and makeup. I speak from the heart, and I hope it is not presumptuous to say that many others who share my heartfelt views might express them in a similar way. That demographic includes my wife and three children, all of whom have performed on the Rose Center stage, cumulative total of about 30 productions, and we all hold the place very near and dear. There is an abundance of available information as to how the Rose Center has benefited the city of Westminster in the areas of entertainment, education, culture, and community. I can add little to that information apart from testifying to the truth of it and the fact that the organization making it happen is the Friends of the Rose Center Theatre. True though it is, the adage, if it isn't broke, don't fix it, can sound trivial and simplistic. So allow me to take my contention a step further. There is no value in attempting to change the managing of something that is already being managed in an exemplary manner. The public reactions to the theatrical productions staged at the Rose Center are solid evidence of that exemplary manner. It is therefore my sincere hope, and that of many like me who have experienced the profound joys of the Rose Center both on and off the stage, that the esteemed body of council members before me will continue to keep the Friends of the Rose Center at the helm and everyone involved enjoying the ride to the utmost extent possible. That concludes my remarks. Please know that I have made them in good conscience and with all due respect. Thank you.

Don Anderson, followed by Joanne Bettenhausen.

Don Anderson, president of the Friends of the Rose Center Theater. And it's wonderful that we have all the people here this evening who support our theater. It is a great institution. My purpose here is this evening is to take a little different tack. And following my comments, I would encourage members of the audience who wish to support the theater to do so. But my concern actually relates to the fact of the information in the staff report, lack of information. So I'm here to request that you continue item 5.6, selection of venue operator for the Rose Center Theater and banquet facility for the following reasons. One, the four-page staff report provides no information for the council members to make an informed decision as to which is the best operator or operators. Number two, The city council members have not been given copies of the four proposals submitted by the four proposed operators to read and evaluate. The staff report does not even contain an executive summary of each proposed operator's strengths and weaknesses. The only information in the staff report on the four proposed operators is their names, Latin Asian Hospitality Group, Friends of the Rose Center, TLC Incorporated, Coffee, whipped. The four proposed operators were interviewed by the community services director and community development director who were designated the evaluation committee. Unfortunately, the evaluation committee did not assign any numerical value to each of the 10 categories for each proposed operator. If they did, the values are not shown in the staff report. Number five, the staff report does not explain how the final scores were calculated. According to the staff report, the staff, not the evaluation committee, ranked the four proposed operators. The top score was 43, followed by scores of 22, 21, and 21. Friends of the Rose Center received a score of 22. The staff report did not indicate what the maximum points would be. And finally, the conclusion in the staff report states, Quote, evaluation of the proposed, proposers have been completed and the city council has requested to select a venue operator, close quote. The evaluation may have been completed by staff, but they are not presented in the staff report. Therefore, the council doesn't have the information available to make a decision this evening. Thank you.

Next speaker, Joanne Bentenhausen, followed by Tammy Hamill.

My name is Joanne Bettenhausen, and I live in Seal Beach, which is right next door to Westminster. I've been going to the Rose Theatre for over a decade. I go to numerous plays and musicals, and I must tell you that the ones at the Rose Theatre are among the very, very best. They always have the largest cast of any playhouse, and they bring in performing groups from all over, and it's easy to see that they perform with love. They also bring in their family, friends, and organizations to see them and visit and support your community. You must know the Rose Theater is one of the premier attractions in your city. And it's something that your city is known for. You must know how blessed you are to have this theater and how it blesses so many. And I hope you vote to support one of the best playhouses in this entire area. Thank you.

Tammy Hamill, followed by William Walkman.

Tammy Hamill, Westminster resident, District 1. Speaking on the Rose Center, 5.6 and 9.1, which I'm calling coddling Amy. Charlie, you're so concerned about the Rose Center not making money, but you yourself have wasted so much of our tax money on your projects, some that you have used to campaign with. You've allowed Amy and Nam Kwan to waste our time and money with their useless agenda items and getting paid to not even show up half the time. 9.1, you want to let her skate on basically giving us all the finger on rules and decorum. You pretend to care about that when residents are speaking, but not so much when other council members aren't following it. You're too weak and compromised to be mayor again. You've been a detriment to the city and residents. You don't really adhere to the rules, and if you do, you backtrack when you're pressured or running for office. What about the rules of not showing up, disparaging remarks about staff and residents, accusations against staff, residents, and other council members? campaigning from the dais. The list goes on. If residents want four more years of you wasting our tax money, taking away decades-long institutions like the Rose Center, never-ending fights on the dais, things like having the balls to ask for more money when you barely show up to meetings as it is, much less doing anything worthwhile, prioritizing selfish wants while we're paying the tax bill every day, our city being a laughingstock, then sure, they can vote for one of you asshats. But if you're tired of all of that and want people up there who will actually take care of our city, people who will actually talk and listen to all residents, a vote for David Johnson, District 1, Lone Wind, District 4, and Carlos Manzo for mayor will give us all that. Let's get back to some semblance of decency and good use of our tax money and help our neighbors in need, keep our parks nice, and have businesses who actually want to invest here. I'm sick of your crap, and I really hope that they are too, and vote accordingly.

William Walkman followed by Leanne Tran.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is William Walkman. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Rose Center Theater. For the past 14 years, I've attended dozens of performances and events at the Rose, and I rarely came alone. My family and friends have shared that experience with me over and over again. Every time I've walked through those doors, I have felt welcomed. I have felt that the people who work and volunteer at the Rose genuinely care about the people who come through those doors and about what happens on that stage. But for my family, the Rose is much more than a place where we go to see a show. My son Cole began performing at the Rose when he started high school in 2011. He appeared in many productions there, and something happened to him at the Rose. His love of theater grew. That experience became part of the foundation that eventually allowed him to perform in productions across the country and ultimately to spend two and a half years on Broadway in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Now, I don't pretend that The Rose alone created that journey, colded the work, he had talent, determination, and good fortune to have opportunities along the way. But The Rose was part of his foundation. And what he learned there didn't stop with him. He has carried that experience forward and paid it back to audiences, fellow performers, directors, technicians, and other theater communities that make productions possible. That, to me, is what makes The Rose so important. Its impact can't be measured simply by ticket sales, rental agreements, or the number of performances held there. The real impact is measured in the people who walk through those doors and discover something about themselves. Children discover theater, young people discover confidence, families create memories, Performers learn their craft and communities come together. And all that requires more than four walls and a stage. It requires people who understand theater, people who understand production, staging, lighting, performance, and the unique needs of the organizations that depend on this facility. For 20 years, the Friends of the Rose Center Theater have built that knowledge and that community. I can't imagine Westminster without the Rose continuing to do what it has done for so many of us, So tonight I'm asking you to look beyond simply who can operate the facility. Please protect the Rose, protect the expertise, the community, and the spirit that have made it what it is. Give the Rose the opportunity to continue to sparkle and shine and give the next Cole and the next generation of families the opportunity to discover what is possible, thank you.

Lien Tran, followed by Joanne Paul.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Lien Tran, and I also known as Khanh Lien. I am here today on behalf of TLC Group. TLC is fully established and registered in the state of California. Our business base right here in the city of Westminster and ready to take on the operation of the Rose Center. I am so proud to be a Westminster resident. So this project is especially meaningful to me. This is our community and we are committed to its success. I personally have 14 years experience managing the Saigon Performing Arts Center. working with promoters, musical concert, artists, event, organizer, customer, and community organization. Our letters of reference can confirm this experience. I am also a shareholder of Vietface TV. where I have hosted many live program with attorneys and doctor, providing the public with valuable information on legal issue, health and prevention. This experience has also given me strong relationship with media and advertising. As the owner and operator of Ngoc Suong restaurant right in Westminster, I bring many years of hand-on experience in restaurant banquet and event operation. Community service has also been an important part of my work. I have many years of involvement with nonprofit organization and currently serve as a board member of two nonprofit organization, which has helped me build strong relationship throughout Westminster and Orange County. TLC is prepared to invest $500,000 in operating resource to support the successful operation of the Rose Center. In addition, TLC will pay rent to the city and share 10% of our profit with the city after operating expense. As the road center grows and succeeds, the city and our community will share in that success. TLC is committed to preserve all existing events, school program, student program, art show to the public, non-profit programs, and city of Westminster events.

Your time is up. Your time is up, ma'am. Your time is up. Thank you.

Thank you.

Joanne Paul followed by Holly Margulies.

Greetings, Council. My name is Joanne Paul. I've been a resident of Westminster since 1972 with a small detour to Irvine. Went to school here, watched my friends grow up here, raising my daughter here. It's really hard to follow an act that's promising $500,000. So Westminster has a long record of welcoming people from a wide variety. I've always considered us, since the Vietnam War, that we are about one-third white, one-third Hispanic, and one-third Asian, not specifically Vietnamese. We welcome all sorts of people. We are the all-American city. I've gone to school with all ethnicities because that's what Westminster is. We live here. You guys live here. We need to work on not destroying what works. You guys paid the city, the taxpayers paid for an audit, a review of the Friends of the Rose Center or the Rose Theater on how our theater has been doing. They got glowing reviews. And then we find out that you guys want to immediately get rid of them, give them 30 days notice to get everything out, and bring in a company that will do both the venue, which from what I understand hasn't been doing well, and getting rid of the Friends of the Rose, which has been doing phenomenal. What is that gaining for our city? Except for possibly $500,000. We don't know because we haven't seen, you guys haven't seen, any of what the interview had, how they were rated. What are they bringing? How is it reaching out? How is it being inclusive of all the people in Westminster? What do we gain from it? And why break something that's been working perfectly fine for the last 20 years and is truly a gem and people come from far outside the city to see the productions? Do what's right for Westminster. Fix what is truly broken, not what is working perfectly fine. Clean that up before you start breaking something else. Thank you.

Holly Margulies, followed by Lone Nguyen.

Good evening.

Good evening. My name is Holly Margulies, and I live on Sawston Circle with Charlie in Westminster since 1972. And I really love the Rose Center, and I hope that each one of the councilmen, or women, have been to the Rose Center and taken their families. It's a gem. I don't know about the Banquick side. I think that should be separate. I think Tim Nelson has done a wonderful job and continues to do a wonderful job on the Rose Society. I'm sorry, I'm part of the Orange County Rose Society, the Rose Theater. and I would like to see it stay the same. We need to have our youth participate, which they incorporate the school districts, and that's wonderful. The kids love it and they eat it up. We want to be sure that we have it for the future. When the children are exposed to the theater, their horizons broaden, so please keep the theater part separately and look further into what the banquet side can do. And thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

Lone Wind followed by Tram Kamba.

Hello. Hello, Mayor and Council. My name is Luan Nguyen. You all know I live in Westminster. As I mentioned before, the first time I knew about the Rose Center Theater was when I went for my son's performance. I'm talking about my son. But it was the Vietnamese American Philharmonic Orchestra. It's VAP for short. And my son was little then. And throughout the years, I attended many concert there. My son and then also other Vietnamese show. And I also went to the theater. I mean, I also went to the show that Tim Nelson produced. And I got to say, I met Tim Nelson when I went to my son's performance. So we need to leave that part alone. We need to leave that part alone for the people of Westminster. What you can change is the banquet side. what percent in the staff reports really good, you can do that, you can change that. Or since you only a few months left in your term, you can leave it for the new people to decide, right? Right, you don't have to make decision now if it's difficult, Since I attended the meeting several months ago, we talk about the Rose Center Theater over and over and over. Why do you want to change it when it doesn't need to change? Right? All right. Well, thank you for listening to the people that come to voice their concern, they want to keep the Rose Center Theater as is for the people of Westminster. Don't change it. If you want to change anything, just change the banquet side. Thank you.

Tram Kamba, followed by Kathleen Iverson.

Good evening. My name is . I'm a proud Vietnamese American and a Westminster resident. Council members, when you are sitting up there in the dais and making decisions about the Rose Center, who are you serving? What is your priority? Are you serving the community and the people? Or are you serving yourselves? The correct answer is you are serving the people, as astutely said by Council Member West at the beginning. So with respect to serving the people, respect to the Rose Center, serving the people is to keep the current operator represented by Mr. Tim Nelson. Who are the people you are serving? I'll give you an example. My daughter and my family, and she might kill me for giving this example, but I will say it. My daughter, Lena, found the Rose Center Theater three years ago when she was 11 years old. She was a scared little girl. At that time, she was bullied at school. Her own friend group turned on her, called her names, threw stuff at her when she passed by them, I came to school one time and saw her eating lunch alone, and that broke my heart. But with the Rose, she found kindness, camaraderie, and gained a little confidence with each performance that she did with them. So that is who you are serving. and the thousands of kids, I see some of them here, who have been positively impacted by the Rose Center Theater. Business-wise, it just makes sense to have them keep operating it. They are really talented. They put a show together in three weeks. They know what they're doing. They have been doing this, running the same theater for 20 years. as compared to the 14 years that TLC has. Not only did they bring customers to the theater, they brought customers to other businesses within the city. I have friends and family from other cities like Irvine, Riverside, Brea. They come here to see the show and they stay here to eat dinner and hang around. So, as you make a decision about the theater, ask yourself.

Your time is up, ma'am. Are you serving Lena? Your time is up. Are you serving yourself? Your time is up.

Kathleen Iverson, followed by Alex Voss.

My name is Kathleen Iverson. I reside at 8441 Sterling Way, Westminster, and I've lived in this city my entire 76 years. I am so amazed when I found this on the agenda again because we did this last year and you had a company and they said the Rose Center, the center where we're having the theater, is doing really well because in Westminster it's costing the city a around $50,000, but anybody else who's doing something like this is costing their city $600,000 for their productions. So I went, okay. I was a board member, I had to make fiscal decisions. Let's take that $50,000 and say we are saving $550,000 by keeping the Rose Center run by the Friends of the Rose Center. And because the banquet side is not making money, They recommended you look for somebody else to do that. I think maybe it's time to sever the relationship between whether or not the Rose Center can exist and the Banquet Center. The banquet area is not working. And we have a huge amount of talent in the city of Westminster by people who could run restaurants and banquets. And I would think that we could find somebody to do that that would make $500,000 that this group is planning on spending make that banquet system work. Because $500,000 won't even do what needs to be done that Friends of the Rose Center have been doing for free. $50,000 for air conditioning, all that, but that's basically free when you have $600,000 worth of benefit to the city of Westminster. I ask you to reconsider and make sure before you make a vote that you put all the information out that you're choosing to make your decisions to the community so they can see what you see. Or if you haven't seen it, we should all see it. Thank you.

Alex Voss, followed by Roger Mindrum.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Alex Vaz, and I serve as one of the Westminster Arts and Culture Commissioners for Our Great City. I've spoken before about the Rose Center because I believe we have an opportunity to make it both culturally significant and financially sustainable, and I still believe those goals are not mutually exclusive. Tonight, however, we're asked to make a decision that could fundamentally change an institution that has served this community for more than 20 years. Friends of the Rose Center may not be perfect. There are opportunities to increase utilization of the ballroom, generate new revenue, and make much better commercial use of it. The problem is the Friends of the Rose haven't even been given a chance to do that yet. As prior to all this, a catering company was running the ballroom. Therefore, we should improve what we have, not dismantle it. the friends of something that can't simply be recreated through an RFP. Two decades of institutional knowledge and existing audience, relationships with performers, community, organizations, volunteers, most importantly, direct experience operating our theater. I'm concerned that the information before the public tonight doesn't fully explain why we should walk away from that. We're presented with scores of 43 for Latin Asian Hospitality Group and 22 for the Friends of the Row Center. But the staff report doesn't show us how those points were awarded across the 10 evaluation categories. That's a significant difference. And I think council and the community deserves to understand what created it before making this decision. Especially considering the Latin Asian Hospitality Group is a food truck company that caters the occasional wedding. They have zero experience running a theater and no ties to our city or even Orange County, as they're located in Campbell, California, nearly 400 miles away. Also, another candidate who is local also has no experience running a theater or even an event venue. Coffee shops and food truck stands do not qualify someone to run an entertainment facility. Might I add, are we to trust someone who uses AI images to promote their business and post about a venue no one's ever seen or used, and have that put you as the front runner in an RFP process? And if you need them, I've got printouts here for you guys. This RFP isn't simply for catering or banquet operations. The operator is expected to secure and present concerts, theatrical performances, touring productions, and other live entertainment. So I would ask, what demonstrated experience do the other operators have actually operating and programming a performing arts theater And how is that weighed against 20 years of direct experience operating the Rose? Another operator may bring something to the ballroom, but as far as the theater goes, there's only one that brings anything to the table. That's Friends of the Rose. The problem we're trying to solve isn't that the Rose doesn't know how to put on theater. The challenge is utilization. We've spent 20 years building something that works. Let's improve on that.

Roger Mindrum. followed by Harry Ratner.

Good evening, Roger Mindrum, president of Westminster. Some very awesome comments by everyone tonight. Thanks for being here, everyone. I don't think I can beat Alex by any terms, and that was perfectly stated. If you've been to the Rose Center performances, I hope you recognize some of the performers that are here. from very vast age groups, a lot of young people in the back here that I recognize. I echo many of the statements here tonight, but I just want to try to make a couple different points that maybe weren't brought up. A little bit from what Alex had pointed out is that you bring in a new management team here I don't know what you're thinking you're gonna get, but you're not gonna get the family that has been built for the last 20 years. Even you personally, when you think of your family, your children, it's what you built. When your kids are successful and they're out of college and successful, you built that. Tim Nelson and his creative team have built this community of performers, and you're not going to get that. And if you don't select the Friends of the Rose Center to continue, you're going to rip the heart and soul out of this community. And 9.1, you're making a big mistake if you rescind what you've already put out from the, you know what, thank you.

Harry Ratner followed by Scott Ratner.

Good evening. My name is Harry Ratner. I've been a resident of Orange County for over 50 years. And for 30 of those years, I was a producer director with public television at KOCE. A big part of my job was to see what's happening in Orange County, to tell the people what is good, what is working, and what is fun for the community. A big part of that was theater productions, and I got to learn a lot about them. One of the biggest impressions I had was when I first attended the Rose Center Theater and saw the quality of productions. My wife and I became members. got to meet members who were working there, actors and staff, and found it a wonderful, wonderful experience. Great plays. But more than that was what I saw happening to the young people who were there as actors. They learned a great deal about life and what life meant to them and how to present themselves. And many of them went on to great positions. I would hate to see this stop because it's a wonderful thing for the young people of all of our communities, not just Westminster, but all through Orange County where people come to represent themselves as actors, many of them inexperienced, and through their productions learn to be confident, good people in our society. And I would love this to continue. Thank you.

Scott Ratner, followed by Helen Tran.

Hello, my name is Scott Ratner. I'm the son of Harry Ratner, who just spoke, and I'm very proud of him, the way he spoke off the cuff. I'm afraid I can't, but... I've had a long association with the Rose Center Theater, dating back to its opening as a performer, audience member, and writer. I was honored to co-write a musical with Rose director Tim Nelson that premiered at the Rose and returned for two subsequent productions. It later went on to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, where it received five-star reviews. Members of its casts, have since gone on to star in national tours and on Broadway. Many not only performed at the Rose early in their careers, but actually got their start there. I recently realized that every member of an unrelated professional caroling group to which I belong also performed at the Rose. These are just a few examples of the many opportunities that the Rose Center Theater has provided over the years. Its tremendous positive impact on the community should never be taken for granted. to replace the expertise and experience and following the Rose Theater has built over 20 years would not only be very difficult, but no doubt extremely expensive. Thank you very much.

Helen Tran followed by Seraphine Tran.

Good evening. My name is Helen Tran. I'm here to advocate for extending the contracts with the Rose. I'm not sure if you all remember me from 10 months ago. I'm the one who's petrified of public speaking, but I'm here 10 months later. I'm still shy, still petrified, but I'm still here to advocate because the Rose Center is so important to so many in our community. Honestly, I really don't know what else I can say that hasn't been said already. You're already aware of the independent findings of the group that you paid for. that said that the Rose's current management yields the best financial outcome for the city. You know how much this theater means to not just Westminster residents, but to schools, tutors, churches, and surrounding communities as well. We've spoken about how children's lives are forever changed here. We have shy kids that find a voice and they shine. You have extroverted kids that find creative outlets for all their energy. And different cultures come together for a shared purpose. But here's the reality. The rose is more than just a building. If you remove the people who make the rose what it is, then the spirit of it will cease to exist. And I know that sounds dramatic, but it's the truth. So as a parent of three, and a vice president of the local middle school music program. We hold all of our musicals at the Rose in the school. And I promise you, the magic isn't in the bricks and walls of that building, it's in the people who operate it. The choreographer who stays late to teach moves and routines And when a kid messes up, she doesn't get frustrated. She just says, okay, I know we can do better. Let's try again and stays there. It's in the vocal director who guides these children with a smile, always smiling, never losing his cool until they not only sound phenomenal, but they actually feel really great about themselves and about their accomplishments. It's in the theater manager who takes time to know my kids Every time we come see a production there, she knows my kids by name and she gives them a hug. You can't beat that. And these are just a few examples of many. I can go on and on with all the staff that's over there that helps. And I have worked with many local theaters, and I promise you, the attitude, the patience, the positivity, the kindness, that's what builds a kid's character is their confidence and their sense of self-worth. That's what makes the rose the rose. So, yes, extending the contract is the most financially responsible decision you can make today. But beyond that.

Your time is up, ma'am. Your time is up. Thank you.

If you move the friends of the rose from the rose, nothing will compare. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Natalie. My name is Serafine.

My name is Waverly.

My name is Luke.

And we're all students at Huntington Beach High School.

And we would like to advocate on behalf of extending the contract of the Rose Center Theater. As well as being high school students, we also attend the Academy for the Performing Arts, which constantly uses the Rose as a rehearsal and performance space. The removal of the theater will greatly affect the students and staff in the programs.

I've been at the Rose Center Theater for eight years since I was seven years old, and in those eight years, I've done well over 15 shows in the theater. In those 18 years, I've made lifelong best friends, and I've learned countless lessons and skills that'll help me throughout my entire life. I believe that shutting down the Rose will take away opportunities from younger generations and from having the same amazing experiences that the Rose had given me. Unfortunately, it's become a routine at the closing performance of every show I do to question whether it will be the last time I step into the building, perform on the stage, or see all of my friends and mentors. The community at The Rose has truly become my family, and it would mean so much to me to keep making new memories and new friends for the rest of my high school experience and onward.

The Rose is ours as well as many other performers' home, and it has given us a place in which we can feel accepted and do what we love. I found my passion for performing through the Rose, and I can say with confidence that my experiences at the Rose Center Theater have had a significant impact in shaping me into who I am today. I believe if the Rose stays that many other young people's lives can change too.

The first show I ever performed in was at the Rose Center Theater. I was seven years old and in a production called The Opening Act. The Rose changed my life as it was on that stage that I discovered my love for theater. I honestly don't know who I would be today without the Rose. Sorry. We urge you to extend this contract. Thank you for this opportunity to speak.

Thank you. Thank you.

Roddy Diaz, followed by Terry Raines.

Good afternoon, Mayor, council members, members of the community. Good afternoon. My name is Rody Diaz. I'm with Aladdin and Asian Hospitality Group, one of the proposers for the Rose Center Theater. I want to share our proposal in three pillars with you, and I hope you consider our proposal. The first pillar is to manage the banquet facility, maximize and close the deficit for the Rose Center, The second pillar is to create a commissary kitchen, a community kitchen that can be able to help boost businesses in the area. We understand that small businesses, it's hard for them to get into a brick and mortar. It's really expensive nowadays with utilities and insurance for them to get a place to cook or to start up a new culinary adventure. So that's our second pillar. The third pillar will be to work with the current theater to maximize programs, support what they do, find funds so they can continue to do what they do, and subsidize what they do through the banquet and the kitchen aspect of the center. So that is our proposal. I look forward to working with everyone in that proposal. I look forward to working with the community. Our goal is to continue with the Rose Theater and the 20 years of experience that they have. We're only here as a toolbox so they can expand a little bit farther. We can go out there and find grants on their behalf, and we're willing to go to Sacramento if needed. And I agree with some of the comments that some of the communities made. We are a hospitality group. We've been around for overall 30 years. We're residents of Rancho Cucamonga. We love community. We have quite a few government contracts with different cities that fosters community engagement. So we're here to support what they do. And that is our proposal, and I hope you can consider us. Thank you so much.

Last in-person speaker, Terry Raines.

5.6, email sent. You're choosing who controls both row center facilities through a grossly secretive process. Staff presents scores of 43, 22, 21, and 21, but no scorecards, weights, rankings, or proof anyone even meets the modified minimum qualifications. Why was the RFP's budget criterion and 20-point financial plan replaced with vague financial considerations? Where are the post-interview supplements? Despite demanding... 100% cost recovery, there's no comparison of fees, public costs, revenue sharing, financial risk, or recovery potential, just unsupported conclusions egregiously presented as fact to steer our beloved community theater and public asset into questionable hands. Theater DNA recommended keeping friends as the theater operators with minor changes, but some of you forced this combined bid. A staggering 43 to 22 gulf, but staff refuses to recommend its winner? That screams trouble. I demanded scorecards, altered criteria, supplements, qualification reviews, theater DNA analyses, and financial comparisons, but received zero records. If the records support the scores, release them. If not, council has no business relying on them. This isn't a public works project bid. The Rose Center belongs to the residents, not politicians, staff, consultants, or some random bidder. You have no right to hand over to some unproven operator through this fact-concealing black box process. Without full scoring detail and verified qualifications, counsel, you must continue this item, not make a bad, irreversible decision in an indefensible information blackout. How is Campbell California Latin and Asian hospitality group even qualified to operate both sides? They're publicly documented. Experience is limited to catering, food trucks, weddings, and banquet events with no verifiable experience managing community theater, box office, theatrical programming, and production. They may be capable of operating the ballroom side, but not our beloved community theater. What justifies scoring them twice as high as our current theater operator with 20 years of proven success? Nothing. The friends want to continue managing the theater regardless of who operates the ballroom. Listen to them, listen to us, and the 68 plus emails that you received all in favor of the theater and friends. Summary, it was provided. Don't change the theater operator and keep the friends. 9-1 email was sent erasing a long-term sanction after only six months based on an appallingly incomplete one-sided report based solely on the mayor's opinion. is bad governance. There's no February evidence, minutes, motion, or order. This shamelessly minimizes Amy's documented campaigning despite the decisive 3-1-1 sanction vote and the city attorney's opinion that her temporary conduct violated government code 8314. Indefensively, this report labels Amy's unauthorized speaking a mixed income, using her brazen defiance to justify giving into it. Seriously? The mayor claims Amy expressed regret, but she's offered no public admission, apology, or commitment to comply with assurance against further political exploitation. This deficient staff report, even with staff's disclaimer, is the only document you've got. What's the arrangement between Charlie and Amy? We want to know what's going on here behind closed doors.

Mayor, we have no further in-person speakers, and I have no speakers on Zoom.

All right, thank you very much. Thank you for coming out and speak your mind. At this time, we have a technical difficulty for the monitors that we have up here. It's not showing up, so we are going to take five minutes recess to fix the monitor. So five minutes recess. So the time now is 7.49. I would like to continue the city council meeting. So roll call, please.

Mayor Nguyen.

I'm here.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Here.

District 1, Councilwoman Fen West. Fen West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

I'm here.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

I'm here.

Mayor, you have a quorum with all members present.

All right, thank you very much. And we are moving on to consent calendar. All matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and may be approved by a single motion followed by a roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the City Council or staff request that specific items be removed from the consent calendar for the separate action or discussion. At this time, I would like to ask if there is any item the council want to approve or a motion to approve.

Motion to approve, Mayor. Second.

There is motion to approve and a second on the floor.

I have a motion made by District 2, Council Member Monzo, seconded by District 4, Council Member Nguyen, to approve the consent calendar as presented. I'll go ahead and call roll. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Council Member Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Council Member Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen. Yes. Mayor Nguyen. Yes. Motion carried 5-0.

All right. Moving on to public hearing. And at this time, before we go into specific items, I would like to ask, see the clerk, go ahead and read the instruction for the record, please.

Anyone wishing to speak on an open public hearing may speak in person. Speakers during public hearing comments will each have three minutes to speak on each public hearing item. Any person wishing to address the city council in person should complete a green speaker slip that is provided at the entrance to council chambers. Submit the card to city clerk staff. When your name is called, please step to the podium at that time and state your name and city of residence for the record.

All right, 4.1, public hearing. Introduce the first reading of an audience amending their city's policy regarding to the use of military equipment and present the 2025 military equipment annual report. So may I ask for a stop report, please? Thank you, Chief.

Scott Gump.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, City Manager, and community members. Assembly Bill 41 became law as of January 1st, 2022. Per Assembly Bill 41, law enforcement agencies are required to obtain approval by ordinance adopting a military equipment use policy from their respective city council. Law enforcement agencies are further required to submit an annual military equipment report to their city council for as long as the equipment is available for use. Our proposed policy was posted on the city website on August 11th, 2026, and we must hold at least one community engagement meeting within 30 days of submitting and publicly releasing the annual report. The community engagement meeting was held at the police department on August 19th, 2026. The community engagement meeting was advertised on social media and received approximately 17,000 views. After the adoption of the current policy, we determined that there was a need to amend the policy with respect to certain equipment. The only changes we have proposed from last year's policy are the potential future purchase of drones. Any amendment to the policy requires reinitiating the approval process and the passage of a new ordinance adopting the amended military equipment use policy. Items deemed to be military equipment by Assembly Bill 481 are used as a component of overall best practices for law enforcement agencies throughout the country. These tools have been field tested and are used to enhance public and officer safety. Loss of these items would jeopardize the welfare of peace officers and citizens of Westminster whom they serve. The term military equipment as used in Assembly Bill 41 in fact, does not necessarily indicate equipment that has been used by or purchased from the military. Pursuant to AB-481, items deemed to be military equipment include, but are not limited to, armored vehicles, pepper balls, less lethal 40-millimeter projectile launchers, certain firearms, and diversionary devices like flashbangs. The attached ordinance seeks to amend the existing WPD policy section 706. which constitutes WPD's military equipment use policy. Policy 706 outlines each item identified in government code section 7070 that is currently owned by the city. Policy 706 also includes the current use and cost of each item. These items and their stated uses have been in place prior to the implementation of AB41. Westminster Police Department seeks City Council adoption of the attached amended military equipment use policy, policy 706, to allow WPD to continue to use this vital equipment specified in this policy. We are not requesting any additional budget appropriations at this time. This concludes my presentation. I'm available to answer any questions you may have.

All right. Thank you very much for the report. And right now, let's open up for Mayor and City Council question for staff.

Is there anything from the dais?

Yes, please. I just have a question.

Commander, thank you for your report again. You mentioned that the only change was the drone, and that is included in the budget for the purchase?

The police department budget, yes.

Okay. That's really the only question I have. Thank you.

Anything else So you're saying that you're not you're amending Purchasing of drone. Is that correct?

We're many last year's military equipment policy to add the potential purchase of a drone or drones Okay.

Now, I guess my question is how will the drone be used? I

Absolutely. A drone obviously is a piece of technology that can benefit using that instead of putting officers in harm's way in situations like we had two weeks ago over here with a suspected armed gunman inside of a building. We utilize drones to go inside and scope out the area before we put our officers in a position of disadvantage. So that would be the main type of technology use instead of human use to detect people hiding.

Okay. And would the drone be used for routine surveillance? And if so, what limit would you apply to it?

Yeah, we have no intention to use the drone for routine surveillance, only for calls for service that would benefit the police officer's response to the call to safe outcome.

Okay. Yeah, we just want to make sure that there's check and balance. And I know that you guys used drone for the last incident here, and that was phenomenal. We really appreciate that expertise you guys have. And you guys came in, no lives were lost, and no one was hurt. So that was perfect. We really appreciate that, that you're using the technology appropriately and still keeping the privacy and the safety of the people. I guess privacy, and I really appreciate that. Thank you.

okay uh i know that public safety is very very important to all of us uh to the residents to all of us here and i think that uh you know with that i support with whatever they're you know uh you or the fire department that they need to uh help the residents here so uh with that i move on the public comments is there any public comments for this item today mayor we have no comments All right, so there is a mayor and council member discussion or council action. Is there, I can entertain a motion if there is one.

Mayor, motion to approve as recommended. Okay. Second.

There is a motion and second. Second by Vice Mayor.

I have a motion made by District 2, Councilmember Monzo, seconded by Vice Mayor Nguyen, to introduce an ordinance of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Westminster, California, amending the City's policy regarding the use of military equipment, read by title only, and waive further reading, and receive and file the 2025 Military Equipment Annual Report. I'll go ahead and call roll. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Council Member Nguyen?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

All right, moving on to 4.2, Public Hearing, Consideration of an Application to the Orange County Transportation Authority, OCTA 2026, Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities. threat program for Americans with disability at ADA, accessible bus replacement. At this time, I would like to ask for the stop report, please.

to apply through OCTA's 2026 Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities grant program. If awarded, the funding would allow the city to replace up to two aging ADA accessible vehicles used for our Westminster on Wheels, better known as WOW, senior transportation program. Just a brief background, the Enhanced Mobility for Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities, or EMSD, grant program is administered by OCTA and funded through the Federal Transit Administration Section 5310 program. The program provides funding to improve transportation services for seniors and individuals with disabilities, including funding for vehicle purchases. OCT, OCTA has made up to 5.85 million available through the 2026 program. As part of the application process, the city is required to hold this public hearing, coordinate with nonprofit transportation providers, adopt a resolution authorizing the application, and commit the required local match. The application is due to OCTA this Friday, August 28th. The city currently operates the WOW transportation program through the Westminster Senior Center. It provides free weekday transportation for Westminster residents ages 60 and older and helps our seniors remain independent and connected with services within the community. The program includes our nutrition band program, which transports our seniors participating in the congregate meal program as well as our shuttle program which provides scheduled transportation between the senior center, senior housing communities, mobile home parks, and shopping destinations. These trips provide access to meals, groceries, pharmacies, health and wellness programs, exercise classes, and social and recreational activities. The WOW fleet currently consists of four ADA accessible vehicles. Through this grant, we are proposing to replace two of our older buses. Both vehicles have exceeded their useful mechanical life and were originally acquired secondhand from OCTA after being used in their access program. As these vehicles have aged, we've experienced increasing maintenance costs. declining reliability, reoccurring mechanical and electrical issues that have resulted in additional downtime. Replacing these vehicles will help us maintain reliable transportation for our seniors while reducing potential service impacts. The city is proposing to purchase up to two new ADA accessible replacement vehicles. These new vehicles would provide updated safety and accessibility features, improve reliability, and lower maintenance needs. We are also proposing smaller vehicles in the buses that are in our current fleet. The smaller vehicles are better suited for navigating Westminster neighborhoods, especially our mobile home parks and senior living communities. They would also provide greater operational flexibility by expanding the pool of qualified drivers who can operate the vehicles. The total estimated project cost is $363,000. The city will be requesting $326,700 from OCTA grant with a required 10% local match of $36,300. The estimated cost for the two vehicles is $330,000 or approximately $165,000 each with an additional 10% contingency. The city's local match would come from existing Title III Older American Acts transportation funds that are already being held by the city for senior transportation purposes. Therefore, no general fund appropriation would be required for the local match. Tonight's public hearing satisfies the OCTA's requirement for the grant application for public agencies. It is recommended that the city council receive public comments regarding transportation needs for seniors and individuals with disabilities and the city's proposed grant application. Following this public hearing, staff recommends adoption of the resolution authorizing the city to submit the application for up to two replacement vehicles, commit the $36,300 local match, and authorize the city manager or designee to execute the necessary documents. If approved tonight, staff will finalize and submit the application to OCTA by the August 28th deadline. So with that, that concludes my presentation, and I am happy to answer any questions along with our Senior Center Supervisor, Heather Dodd.

All right, thank you for the presentation. Right now, I'm open up for Mayor and City Council question for staff.

Anything from the dais? Just one. Again?

All right, good. Thank you, Mayor. We have Council Member Mansell. Go ahead.

Thank you for your staff report. The two vehicles, what year are they? It was not mentioned in here. How old are they? No, the old ones. 2006. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all I got. Thank you.

Anything else from the staff? If not, I will move to Public Commons City Club. I have a question. Thank you. Council Member West.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I really appreciate that you guys have this service for our disability and senior folks. That means a lot because you help them to get the normal routine, to still be part of society and do the things that they want to do to enjoy their senior life. I really appreciate that. Now, for the last year with your guys, the van, I know I see it drive around as well. How many people have you serviced and helped in the city?

I will defer to Heather. She's the expert in those programs. All right.

Yes. So we service on a daily, anywhere from 36 to 54 one-way trips to our center. That includes both our nutrition program that comes in here to eat the daily lunch program, as well as our social recreational, our art programs, our exercise, fitness, and wellness lectures, and access to our community fitness center outside, as well as the nutrition bus that will pick them up and take them to the shopping centers. We do have higher days, such as when we have our special events. We may transport upwards of 50-plus that day, so they'll be making multiple trips. So the vans are operational from pretty much 8 to about 1230 or 1 nonstop, transporting multiple trips per day.

Okay, so 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.?

It's 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. are service hours. Most of the time they are back to check the vehicle and do post-trip inspections by 1230 to 1 so that they're off by 130 to 2.

Okay. And then... When you pick those residents up, I know that you say between 36 to 54 people a day. That's really good. Now, do you have a contact number that they call in to have you guys come pick them up or do they do email or what?

So the way that our program works is you must be a registered rider to participate with our nutrition van program because they have to prove residency as well as age verification with us. They have two options. They can either choose to be on a subscription basis where they give us their days that they're going to come in, perhaps maybe every day of the week, or they come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or they can do a per time instance for a reservation. We ask for 24 hours notice up to a week or more so that we can make sure we do have spacing limitations. So the subscription is a guarantee versus if they call and look for one of trips such as our special events, they may have to call in earlier to make sure they receive the reservation. But we do have staffing for dispatch to take the registration as well as to take their calls and let them know that they want to be picked up from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in our center. And then we dispatch them out to our transportation. We also have the ability while the drivers are out, especially in our nutrition routes, we give them a window to shop so that they know what time to expect to be picked up and then to return to the bus at. But if their plans change for some reason, perhaps the store is busy and they take longer and they're missing their time to pick up, they can call us. Or if they succeed in their shopping faster, they can call a center. And if the driver is available to be reached safely, we can dispatch them back to pick up early to help reduce the times that they're waiting at the shopping centers to be returned home or back to the center.

Okay, and do you have a contact that you can say it out here so people can call? Absolutely.

They can call directly to the Senior Center at 714-895-2878, and we can help coordinate that.

Okay, perfect. And then with this grant, are you guys interested in increasing the number of resident senior folks that you're going to take?

We do hope to increase the number by having more accessible driver options in the pool to pull from, as well as making the vehicles more accessible to more areas and easier for people to board. Currently, a challenge we face is a lot of our vehicles do all have ADA accessibility with the ramp and the lift in the back, but they're also, if they're entering from the front and are still mobile, there are stairs to climb. The vehicles that we're looking to procure are straight walk-on curb heights, so it eliminates the stairs. which will help boarding times be faster for our seniors because they're not waiting for the lift to be operational and up and down at each stop, as well as it's a safer option because they're not having to navigate any stairs. They can either roll right on with their mobility device from the curb height, or if they're at street level, or they can walk right on. So it'll be much more safe for older adults that may have mobility challenges to enter and exit the vehicle, as well as our seniors that maybe don't have the best mobility.

Okay, that's perfect. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that, Heather.

Anything else? Well, on behalf of the city staff and the city council, we would like to thank you. I know that you guys are taking care of our seniors very well, and you pay attention to that. So we appreciate for the effort that you put in, and hopefully that we continue to do that for our seniors. So if there's anything, let us know. But at this time, I would like to move to public comments. City Clerk, do we have any?

Mayor, we have no in-person or Zoom comments.

All right, then move on to Mayor and Councilmember discussion and action.

Motion to approve, Mayor.

I second it.

Okay, motion is seconded on the floor.

I have a motion made by District 2, Council Member Monzo, seconded by District 1, Councilwoman Fan West, to receive public comments regarding the transportation needs of seniors and individuals with disabilities within the City of Westminster and the City's proposed application to the Orange County transportation authorities, 2026 enhanced mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities grant program and adopt a resolution entitled the resolution of the mayor and city council of the city of Westminster, California, authorizing submission of an application to the orange county transportation authorities, 2026 enhanced mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities. grant program for capital funding to purchase up to two ADA-accessible replacement buses for the Westminster Senior Center's Westminster on Wheels transportation program, committing the required local fund matching, designating the city manager or designee as the city's representative, authorized to submit and execute all documents necessary to apply for and administer the grant. I'll go ahead and call roll. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Council Member Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen.

Yes. Motion carried 5-0. Now let us move into regular business. This is 5.1, continue from the August 17, 2026 adjourned regular meeting, strategic plan goal number 5, enhance quality of life and beautification throughout the city. The strategy plan objective is provide an update on the status of the parks and recreation facilities master plan. So stop report please.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening again. So tonight, we are pleased to provide an update on the City's Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan. The Master Plan was adopted in 2020 as a long-range roadmap to help guide the City's investments in parks, facilities, recreation programs, operations, and future community needs. Tonight's presentation is really an opportunity to look back at the progress that's been made over the past six years, where we are today and some of the priorities and opportunities we are looking at moving ahead. So this update also responds directly to strategic plan goal number five, which calls for an update on the status of the Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan. Before we get into the numbers, I do want to clarify the scope of tonight's review. This is a mid-cycle implementation update, not a comprehensive update or reevaluation of the entire master plan. Not every individual recommendation contained in the plan was specifically reevaluated as part of this process. Our focus was really on documenting what we've accomplished identifying work currently underway, and highlighting key priorities and opportunities as we continue implementation. To provide some background, the master plan was adopted by the city council in March of 2020. Of course, that timing is significant. It came essentially at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly affected city operations and recreation services. The years that followed were challenging, but despite the very unusual beginning, implementation of the plan continued. In 2022, the city council adopted its strategic plan, and in October of 2025, the council identified this mid-cycle review as an objective under strategic plan goal number five. This brings us to where we are today, six years into the implementation and an appropriate time to take a look at our progress and the work that remains ahead. So this slide provides the big picture implementation status. For purposes of the review, with the help of our consultant, MIG, who worked on the original plan, we've tracked 125 action items across four major categories of the master plan. It's important to put these numbers into context. These 125 items should not be viewed as 125 funded projects or commitments that were all expected to be completed by this point. These recommendations vary significantly in their scope and complexity. Some are discrete capital projects that can be easily completed, while others are programs and operational practices that are ongoing by their nature. Others are long-term initiatives that may require additional evaluation, significant funding, partnerships, redevelopment, or broader city policy decisions before they can move forward. In fact, one of the implementation strategies identified in the master plan was to pursue quick wins, projects and initiatives that could be accomplished in the near future that can demonstrate progress and build community support. while continue to work towards the plan's longer and more complex goals. Again, because this was an implementation review rather than a comprehensive update of the master plan, not every proposed recommendation was individually re-evaluated at this point in the process. But we will review progress in four categories. The first category is parks and facilities, and this is where some of the most visible progress can be seen. Of the 47 items tracked in this category, 26 have been completed, and another four are currently underway. These investments represent significant improvements throughout Westminster's park system and touch parks and neighborhoods throughout the city. Just a few of the compliments are highlighted here. We've completed 12 priority playground renovations that were identified in the master plan. We added the city's first lighted soccer field at Sigler Park. We added pickleball courts at both Sigler and Tony Lamb Parks. We added the Cherry Street Community Garden, and we've completed trail and bikeway improvements, including the Garden Grove Boulevard Bikeway and the Mendez Historic Freedom Trail. These are just a few examples of the physical investments that have occurred since the adoption of the master plan. This before and after at Sigler Park is a great example of how we've been able to rethink and better utilize existing park space. In 2020, this area of Sigler Park was an underutilized baseball field. Today, it's been transformed into the city's first dedicated soccer field, providing much-needed recreational amenity and creating a significantly more active park. It is a great example of taking an existing park asset and adapting it to better meet the current recreational needs of our community. Playground renovations have also been a major area of investment. This before and after is just one example of the transformation we've seen throughout our park system. We've completed 12 renovations, but our focus hasn't simply been replacing aging equipment. We've really tried to create more of an experience and identity at each of our parks. In the past, many of our playgrounds looked very similar you'd see that yellow slide at every single park. With these renovations, we've intentionally incorporated unique themes and designs that give each playground their own character and create a more memorable experience for families. That approach has been incredibly well received by the community, And it's something we're very proud of as we continue investing in our parks. And as you'll see later, playground improvements continue to be one of our priorities moving forward. So this next category, programs and events, it's more than just a park. One thing important about the master plan is it isn't limited to just construction. Parks really become assets when people have reasons to use them. In this category, 29 of 32 tracked actions have either been implemented or ongoing. Today, the city provides a number of signature community events annually. And when we say signature events, we're really referring to some of our larger community-wide celebrations. In addition to those major events, our team produces and supports numerous other special events, seasonal activities, community gatherings, and programs throughout the year. We've expanded our recreation classes in areas that include fitness, arts, science, technology, and mathematics, also known as STEM, cultural programming, and wellness activities. With year-round programs that serve youth, families, adults and seniors. We've expanded and enhanced our mobile recreation program that allows us to bring more recreation opportunities directly into neighborhoods and parks, particularly in those areas that access is traditionally limited. Many of the recommendations in this category are intentionally classified as ongoing because successful implementation does not simply mean offering event or program just once. It means continuing to provide, grow, and evolve those opportunities year after year.

Here you can see the Cherry Street Plaza.

It's a good example of how several master plan goals can come together at one location. We've added the community garden and have continued looking at opportunities to activate the new plaza area through community programming, including the Cherry Street Eats program and community block parties at the dining pads. It's not just about creating physical space, but about creating opportunities for people to gather, participate, and connect with their community. This is our next category. It's maintenance and operations. This category looks different from the other two, so it's worth acknowledging. Of the 19 tracked items, one is complete, five are in progress, six are ongoing, and seven remain future priorities. Many of these recommendations aren't one-time projects that can simply be checked off. They involve ongoing maintenance practices, operational systems, staffing, asset management, sustainability, and long-term planning. This is also an area where the review has identified additional work needs to be continued. Today, the city is responsible for maintaining 25 parks, sports fields, community facilities, the splash pad, and expanding trail network. It's important to recognize that every investment we've talked about tonight also creates an ongoing maintenance responsibility. Every new playground, field, court, trails, shade structure, and other amenity ultimately becomes something that needs to be maintained. We are currently moving forward with the Facilities Master Plan and the American with Disabilities Act, known as ADA Transition Plan. These will help provide additional information to guide future maintenance, asset management, accessibility, and capital investment needs. So as we continue investing in our parks system, we also need to continue evaluating resources and systems necessary to sustain those investments long term. Final category is administration and management. This category is really about building the organizational capacity necessary to support everything we are discussing. It includes staffing, policies, planning, funding strategies, partnerships, data collection, communications, and other administrative systems that support implementation of the master plan. We've made some significant progress in this area as well. We've expanded our organizational capacity with eight new full-time positions. We've established the Park Ranger program with two full-time raisers currently serving the community and a third that was recently approved. We've established the Adopt-a-Park program, expanding opportunities for the community involvement, reestablish the Cultural Arts Commission to support arts and cultural programming throughout the city. These improvements may not always be visible, like a new playground or a sports field, but are important because they build the city's capacity to deliver services and continue implementing the master plan. We've also significantly changed how we communicate with our community. Here's just one small example. You can see the difference between what our recreation newsletter looked like in 2020 and what it looks like today. It's full color and we are able to provide a better product at a lower cost. Our recreation guide, our newsletter, social media, and other outreach tools have significantly expanded our ability to connect with residents to our programs, our activities, our events, and opportunities throughout the city. That brings us to where we are going next. Through this mid-cycle review, five areas have been identified as near-term priorities and opportunities. continued sports court resurfacing, continued playground renovations, expansion of the mobile recreation program, shade structure replacement and additions, and Liberty Park site planning and grant readiness. I do want to emphasize that these should not be viewed as five fully funded capital projects. They represent areas that we believe are appropriate to continue advancing as funding, project readiness, and other opportunities become available. Implementation will need to occur project by project and may rely on a combination of city resources, capital improvement program funding, park dedication funds were eligible, grants, partnerships, develop related funding, and other outside funding opportunities. Liberty Park is a good example of this approach. With the new statewide park grant opportunity anticipated this year, Liberty Park presents an opportunity to explore whether outside grant funding could support a more comprehensive park renovation. This specific project scope has not been determined and would require additional planning, community engagement, funding analysis, and ultimately an appropriate city council approval before moving forward. So ultimately, that's what this mid-cycle update is about. We've made some meaningful progress in the last six years, but there's certainly more work to do. And some of the recommendations contained in the original plan will require additional evaluation as we move forward. But we have the roadmap to continue to provide valuable guidance for our parks and recreation system. Building on the progress we've made, the city council will continue to invest in quality parks, expand recreation opportunities, and implement the parks and recreation facility master plan as resources and opportunities allow. So with that, that concludes the presentation. Both Jake and I are happy to answer any questions the council may have. Thank you.

Excellent presentation. Thank you very much for putting it together. Just want to mention that I had the opportunities to do the grand openings, a lot of grand openings, a real grand opening for the parks. And we have significant milestone, accomplished a milestone for that. I have to say thank you so much for putting effort into it. And why don't you help me put your hand together and thanks to him for what he did. And with that, I move to receive and file report, and file the report. But you guys can go ahead and, you know, put comments or provide input later on. So my motion is to receive and file report.

I second it.

But before that, I would like for you to go back to slide number six and seven, because I love it so much that I need to talk about it. so these are the highlights um that they uh they put up for us so that we can see um so how many total parks that we actually um remodel or we've run a renovation this year do you have that in mind sorry but i can keep track of it some of the parks have had multiple um

they've had a playground and a court resurfacing, or a playground and a new facility. I would say at least 12 playgrounds.

That's a good question. So many you can't even keep track.

Yeah, it's hard to keep track. But yeah, 12 playgrounds, pickleball courts, soccer fields, community gardens. Boy, it's a lot.

Yeah, I know. It's a lot. That's why I can't even keep track of it. So thank you from record... parks and recreation also from the public works. You guys help for getting this project going. So thank you so much. So at this point here, I will open up for any comments from the dais.

I have a couple comments, Mayor.

Council Member Mansoor.

Thank you, Mayor. Here it says playgrounds renovation is 12 of 14 priority parks have been completed. New playground equipment and safety resurfacing. So great job.

All right, good.

My question I have for you is on the proposed projects, the one about the handball courts repurposing. What ideas do you have? What are the ideas from staff for those ones?

So we have proposed, there's a number of things we could do. Pickleball is one of the options. It's easy, that footprint of a handball court converting to a single pickleball court is a very viable option. That being said, we have proposed that at other parks and it would was not well received so with any of these projects it's not this isn't the green light to go we would do extensive specific outreach at each of those sites to see what was desired if it's still a desirable option for those sites things have changed over the last six years and you know we we recognize that so none of these projects would move forward without engaging the community and those user groups specific to each of those sites.

Okay. Just a caution about the Sigler Park handball court. That has a lot of cultural significance with the mural that's on the side. Yes. Absolutely. I would caution about that one for sure.

Absolutely.

Okay. I know a lot of these projects that we've done have been with ARPA funding. And I see that we had some of the projects mentioned here. They've been on the books as far as a to-do list for quite some time. What efforts have been made in those in regards of funding for some of those? Has there been any efforts to fill out some grant opportunities to do some of those projects that have been on the books for a while? Has there anything of that been done for those particular projects?

You know, over the years, staff keep, continue seeking for outside grants for any improvement in the parks. That's one of the reason why that we're looking at this, the Liberty Park as the state grant that we were trying to go after in a, you know, just to do a different amenities to satisfy the grant requirement. But in any maintenance or replacement for the playground, typically there's no grant for that type of improvements.

I see some, we have some, like for example, I know we've, since I've been around, since my days in the Planning Commission, it's been a while, I know we've always talked about the Navy Trail, the segments that we can control. I know we don't control the whole thing, but has there been any effort to get some funding for those, specifically for a grant or anything, or are we just relying only on ARPA funding only?

Yeah, I can jump in. So as far as the grant efforts for parks, they have not been as robust as grant efforts in other subjects, such as, for example, in transportation, you've seen a lot of the grants that we're able to bring in. I think the pairing up with Townsend Public Affairs to help us with grants overall, I think it kind of levels the playing field in other disciplines where the city staff are not as... Don't have the level of expertise for that. We're also looking to explore strategies to utilize other funds to improve our parks in a way where we are really overhauling the park and not just maintenance, because there is no grants for maintenance. We know that. So we are definitely behind the curve, I think, on a doing what I think the council would expect us to do as far as seeking competitive grants since the adoption of the plan. But I would say that right now we are definitely very focused on grant efforts moving forward with a more aggressive strategy.

Yeah, because I know there's those grant opportunities out there. I just was wondering if we've made any efforts to capture some of those opportunities.

Right now we are definitely active. I think your question was what have we done since the adoption of the plan? I would say it's not something that we're exactly proud of as far as the effort that's gone into seeking those grant funds for parks, but that is not the case at this time.

Yeah, because I know we've done a great job. We've had reports in the past from staff as far as our events have, I'm pretty sure I can use the word, I can safely use the word doubled if not tripled in the events, so... And that department, I know staff's doing a great job there. And some of these other ones you highlighted, but just some of these long, these projects that have been in conversation for many, many years, like what efforts have been made there? So I'm just wondering for that, you know, because I know we've used a lot of the ARPA funding to be able to do some of these renovations or upgrades to the playground equipment. and to the baseball fields and the soccer fields, and those are really popular, and everybody's happy about those, but some of these other ones we probably should look at, try to capture some funding or come up with some funding, just solely depend on the ARPA funding that we have, because that's not going to, we're running out of that, so hopefully we can do that.

If I can actually just add to that as well, I will say when this parks master plan was adopted, it was right around COVID. And then with the ARPA funding, if it wasn't for the ARPA funding, and I will confidently say it, if it wasn't for the ARPA funding, all these improvements would not have been made. And we wouldn't see all these successes that we've had the last few years. But with that being said, you know, there also is a period of prioritizing. And the parks, you know, parks making life better, that is definitely a priority for us. It is definitely one of those things that was put on the back burner because of, you know, financial, obviously financial priorities. Certainly this is a great time for us to start looking for long-term projects long-term feasibility of maintaining parks and making sure that as parks reach their end of life on equipment, et cetera, that we move toward that. But that's also part of, with this particular plan and the upcoming facilities master plan, we're gonna be looking at how we systematically save and fund those types of things. Grants, when it comes to grants, there's always two components there, right? There's generally a matching portion of it, which is required, and in order to qualify for it, we have to show that we're able to match, and we weren't able to for quite some time, not up until the last couple of years. The other side of that too is, the creativity, and I know that's been a concern of Council in some areas, that some of these park grants require a level of design creativity that we lack sometimes. And it also requires time for us to look into some of these improvements, right? So this is a great starting point, and as we move forward with different plans, also includes the strategic plan, if that's something that Council wants us to really dive into. What we're going to do as far as long-term parks planning, that's certainly a great time for us to have those discussions as well as we move toward a budget and where we want to allocate funds. And if we want to allocate improvement funds specifically for park improvements, we can really do that in a much more robust way.

Yes, I agree. I just know we had great success with team with our Garden Grove Boulevard or bike trail. and the Mendez Freedom Trail. We were able to capture some grand opportunity there. And I see that one of the proposed ones is Ward Street Bikeway, so that would be it. another great project that we can pretty hang our hat on on that, get that complete. So maybe we can take some of those, what we learned with those other ones.

Absolutely. And then going back to something that you brought up a few years ago when you first joined the council is, you know, we have opportunities to continue to improve our roadways without impacting a motorist, but making it more a multimodal approach. If anybody's ever been in the Sigler Park area, the streets are super wide. We've talked about green street solutions for those areas that allow people to essentially utilize more of that street. It's wide enough for five vehicles total, but it's one lane in each direction. So a lot of excess roadway that leads to other problems. So we can beautify and also bring in green spaces and things of that nature.

Yes, that's a great point. It has been a great opportunity, so thank you, Mayor.

All right, anything else?

Yes, Mr. Mayor.

Yes, Council Member West.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is phenomenal. I totally appreciate you guys, you know, public work to Park and Rex and, of course, Adolfo as well. You guys do an amazing job, and I have nothing but praise for you. I want to share this quick. There was a resident in District 1, his name is Mike, and he has complained regarding the Bosa Chica Park, and there was water, you know, was leaking in a certain area, and when it was brought to my attention, I brought it to Jake. I CC him on that email, and Jake, within the day, he came out there and took a look at it, and then within two days, it's done. So I have nothing bad to talk about our department head because you guys are on top of it. And I'm so thankful. And that is an example of how our city is working with the council, working with the public. And the trust is there. And I just want to encourage you guys to keep doing an amazing job. The trust, they just love you guys. So when you guys are on top like that, it's phenomenal. And so I want to say thank you.

All right, anything else? Yes, Vice Mayor.

Yeah, I know we've done 12 playground renovation. Are there any other parks where there's a need of playground equipment replacement?

Yes. The rest need to be replaced. and I'm dating myself here, but they were almost all done at the same time, redone in their old version at the same time. So they've all outlived their lifespan. So we are actively working with TPA to find grants for playground renovations and those kind of things. But yes, we want to continue that for sure. Continue bringing new experiences that diverse kind of look of playgrounds to the rest of our sites.

All right, thank you for the fantastic discussion.

All right, if there's no other comments, then we have motion and second on the floor.

I have a motion made by Mayor Nguyen, seconded by District 1, Councilwoman Fan West, to receive and file the report. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

Moving on to 5.2, refund of unexpended funds from the West Orange County Water Board for Catholic protection. So is there anything that you want to say about this?

Um, yeah, no, so this is a refund from the West Orange County Water Board. If the mayor and council remember that back in 2020, um, the board approved the cathodic protection, which is for, to protect the two, uh, water main, uh, for the import water into city of Westminster. And, um, so the program takes eight years and it was estimated about $8 million. Um, but In December 2025, when the board hired a consultant to take a look at those two lines for the cathodic protection program, and they didn't recommend that you do that method based on the diameters of the pipe. So what it did, they tried to refund the member agencies based on the amount that they're holding right now. And they're still holding around $3 million to address any immediate maintenance, including issue with ongoing maintenance and then also be ready for the next assessment in 2029, 2030. So the board recommended to refund back to the agencies. For Westminster, we're about 25.4%. So that's going to be an amount of $1.1 million. So that will go into our water fund. All right. Good, thank you very much.

Any motion, any questions?

I motion to approve.

I have a question. Okay. All right, I will second that. Go ahead, Council Member Moore.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I have a question. So as far as the assessment goes, was there any effort to do this assessment prior than to seek the funding for this catalytic protection project? Was there an assessment done prior, and then was that a recommendation?

I think at the time of 2020, I believe that when they look at the condition of the pipe, knowing the material of the pipe, there was the method trying to prolong the life. But once they dive in and do the full studies of the method, They found out that the pipe is not big enough for a person to come in and to weld those metals, so they prevented additional corrosion to those pipes. But they also look at the condition of the pipe as well, so they're not as bad. So the recommendation is to continue the maintenance. Just wherever there's a bad area, just dig out and replace. reassess the pipe in another five years, and then, you know, whatever that, at that time, the recommendation will bring back to the board.

Yeah, and I know, I get that part, but I'm saying, was there an assessment prior than to seeking the funds? You know, going out there and realizing that this wasn't going to work before going through all the trouble, of seeking the funding and then realizing once you got in there, oh, this is not going to work. It seems kind of backwards. It seems like you should have done the assessment prior and then got a game plan and then went and seeked the funding to do it. You know what I mean?

It seems backwards. I wasn't around during that time to see to find out whether they have the prior assessment done, but I think it's just recommendation based on the material of the pipe that I have. I get it. It just seems a little bit backwards. All right. Thank you.

All right, there's a motion and second on the floor.

Mr. Mayor, may I make a comment quick? Thank you. So Jake, I was on the water board just a few years ago, and I know that you guys do diligent as a government, local government agency. Sometimes we just need money to fix things quick with the assessment because we have to run the city. So I completely understand that. So with that, you guys do diligently, and now you're refunding back. That's phenomenal. As a local government, the people expect us to have the funding to put it in to fix the water source. Water is king. We all know that. And you're doing a good job. And then now you're seeing with the extra assessment, it shows that you guys are doing diligent and now the money is coming back in the million. So thank you for that. And, you know, seeking out and making sure that we have the fund as a city to fix the fix the water pipe if we needed to. And that's what the people here are expecting us, the local government, to provide for them in that way. So I want to say thank you. All right, Jay?

All right, so we'll go for police.

I have a motion made by District 1, Councilwoman Fan West, seconded by Mayor Nguyen, to authorize an increase to water fund revenue account number 55500-39069 to receive a refund from the West Orange County Water Board in the amount of $1,168,400. I'll go ahead and call roll. District 1, Councilwoman Fen West. Fen West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

5.3, project completion with Union Pacific for improvements related to the Mendez Freedom Trail projects.

Yes, please. Thank you, Mayor. So this is the payments to Union Pacific Railroad to close out the project improvements along the Mendes Freedom Trail, which is the Hoover Street. So back in June of 2024, the City Council approved seven agreements with Union Pacific for the improvement at Railroad Crossing along Hoover Street. The improvements were required by the Union Pacific Railroad include pre-signals, payment markings, signage, ADA improvements, side railroad flashing light, and additional improvements at Great Cross Crossing at Garden Grove Boulevard, Hazard Avenue, 21st Street, and Trash Avenue. The improvements enhance safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians using the railroad crossing at the intersection that connected to Mendez Freedom Trail. Union Pacific share for the improvements at 21st Street, Garden Grove Boulevard, and Trash Avenue. So I'm just gonna go over some of their estimated number for the constructions. So the regional estimate for a total construction is almost $1.9 million. Union Pacific willing to share the cost is $351,000 for those four intersections. The city estimated... to put it to cost for $1.5 million. The final constructions come up to $1.6 million, so it's about less than 7% higher than the original estimated for the city share due to the working at night, weekend, and the cost increase in materials. The Mendez Freedom Trail is completed. It was dedicated on April 14, 2026, and the City Council accepted the project on May 13, 2026. So staff recommends that City Council authorize the additional $106,307.79. This is a payment to Union Pacific Railroad, and this is coming from the existing CIP account. All right.

Thank you. Is there any questions on this or is there a motion?

A motion to approve it. I'd just like to make a point. My frustration, what you guys know, that a lot of these, I think they took advantage of the situation and got some improvements on their equipment for a project that we weren't even touching their project. So I thank you for the, you know,

dealing with it i know staffs are really frustrated but they kind of held how does that gun point on this we could have nothing nothing we can do about it so their original request for the corridor was over 20 million dollars yeah so we went from fixing their rail line which we drew the line several trips to downtown la with our attorneys in hand to get it down to a manageable amount that we then, thanks to the support of the council and Senator Umberg, we were able to secure an additional 1.5 million, essentially that went into their improvements.

Into their projects, yeah. Into their equipment. Harsh. Okay, motion, second?

Yes, Mr. Mayor, second.

Okay.

I have a motion made by District 2, Councilmember Monzo, seconded by District 1, Councilmember Fan West, to authorize an increase of $106,307.79 in additional funds to the Union Pacific Railroad Company for railroad crossing improvements related to the completion of the Mendez Freedom Trail project. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West? Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo?

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen?

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

5.4, strategic plan goal number two, implement and support effective land use policies and encourage quality development. Strategic plan objective is to identify ways to modify the city's code to be more efficient and improve development. Staff report, please.

So, Mayor, if I can just jump in real quick and for everyone. We had technical difficulties. The slides look really wonky, but we absolutely promise that we'll have these PowerPoint presentations up on the website in a clean version so that members of the public can see tomorrow. Okay. All right.

Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Richard Rojas, Director of Community Development. I'll be presenting this item for your consideration. As you are well aware, over the past year, the planning division staff have initiated a comprehensive zoning code effort, update effort, designed to streamline review of projects, increase opportunities for new development, including housing and commercial, and better align the city's regulations with current development practices and state law. The code amendments represent a targeted effort to modernize the city's regulations, improve administrative efficiency, reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers, and provide greater clarity and predictability for property owners, residents, businesses, and the development community. The adopted and proposed updates address several areas of the zoning code that have become increasingly important as development practices, market conditions, and state requirements have evolved. The amendments are intended to create a more efficient and user-friendly regulatory framework while maintaining appropriate standards to protect community character, public health and safety, and neighborhood compatibility. The completed amendments have addressed thus far density bonus, accessory dwelling units, billboards, and mixed-use development. The proposed amendments that are still underway and will be presented over the next six to nine months include a general modernization and clarification update and a sign code update. These, as you've seen, these efforts are quite laborious, time-intensive, detail-oriented, but they provide substantial benefits that will accrue to the community for many years to come. As it relates to ADUs, we've seen a significant increase in ADU permit activity. We average about 5 to 10 applications per month. We see construction happening virtually all times in all neighborhoods across the city. And that is a function of how easy it is and how easy it has become to apply for and receive permits for ADUs. And so we expect these benefits to continue to unfold for many years to come, and hopefully we can shorten time frames and reduce costs even more. I'm sorry, I was speaking about ADUs, but... Now I'm going to talk about density bonus. Density bonus is one of the most attractive elements that we can use to entice large-scale development to occur in the city. In effect, we offer greater height or density in exchange for designated affordable units. And so because state law has evolved over the past few years, many codes for many organizations, many agencies like Westminster have needed to be updated to incorporate the latest on concessions, incentives, and waivers. Once implemented, they do reduce staff time, they do reduce ambiguity for applicants, and they provide clear expectations on essentially the trades that are available again for affordable units that are designated and made available in exchange for more market rate housing. I just spoke on ADU benefits previously. On the billboard ordinance, billboards are one of the significant opportunities for cities to generate revenue to cover not just the cost of doing business within, say, community development, but to support the functions of operations across the city. They represent a relatively small footprint in exchange for a pretty significant revenue generation opportunity. So what we've done with our ordinance is to update the standards for location, size, design, and operation. This has encouraged developers to apply, to work with agencies such as Caltrans to both improve the standards of the existing billboards, sometimes replace them with digital billboards for the benefit of enhancing visual quality along commercial corridors where they are primarily focused to be constructed. For the mixed use ordinance, this is one of the newest ordinance that has been implemented across the city, but we are already seeing lots of interest, lots of brokers that are contacting the city, property owners inquiring about the possibilities. And so we are making sure that everyone understands that business is open here in Westminster, that this is an important tool for the city to attract reinvestment and redevelopment of some of the oldest commercial quarters within the city. to encourage pedestrian-oriented development where vehicles are ideally traveling slower so that pedestrians and bicyclists feel safer. as they come in and out of businesses and residences. So that the standards themselves, they are much more clarified. They do a lot to entice developer interest because they're very clear on the things that developers of multi-story projects looking for, clarity on density, clarity on setbacks and parking requirements. And they've been designed to, again, reflect the current best practices in the market in this part of Orange County. One of the updates that's currently underway that we intend to present to you by the end of the year is something we're calling a general modernization and clarification update. This is kind of a robust effort to clarify things that are difficult to follow in the current code, improve the standards for definitions to comply with state law as it relates to specific uses such as emergency shelters and childcare, and to reduce ambiguity and inconsistencies so that people aren't confused, applicants are confused, staff isn't confused, and we can just do our job much more efficiently. And for the updates that are on the horizon, those relate to the sign code update. We've heard from many stakeholders thus far that there's a strong desire to improve consistency, improve aesthetics, reduce the time to process applications for signs, but to also think about ways of Modernizing and so this is something that we have just started to scratch the surface on But we intend to present to the council in the first quarter of next year So again the for the the the ordinances that are currently underway The first the general modernization and clarification update is about 77 70% complete staff are currently working closely with our internal city departments and to finalize the draft for preparation to the planning commission in October. And then once the commission takes action, we will present it to the city council. For the sign code, we've just started to draft the first draft with our consultant team. And again, we are targeting completion in early next year. This concludes the presentation. I am available for any questions.

All right, thank you very much for the effort there. We need a lot of your help to get the planning department to speed up. And at this time, I would like to open up for the council comment, if there's any.

I do?

Yes, Council Member West.

Okay, so on page three, back to slide number three, we can look at the ADU ordinance update benefits. I guess it didn't say on here, but are there a number of ADUs that each household can build? Do we have that ordinance in the city of Westminster?

Yes, the ordinance that has been drafted and adopted is consistent with state law. It allows up to two ADUs on each single family zone lot, along with one JADU for a total of four units per single family lot. So that is something that is required by state law, that is currently reflected in our code. And we've not seen many applicants propose that many. Usually what we see that the most frequently submitted application type is a single ADU on a single family house lot. We expect that trend to continue. From what we're hearing, that is just the easiest way to accommodate children that are aging, parents that are aging, and families want to keep them close to care for them. And so that's what we expect to continue.

Okay, so as of right now, we have a total of two ADUs and four JDUs in each single property. Is that correct from what I'm hearing from you?

No. I'll just restate it. So for every single family lot, by state law, they are allowed to have two ADUs, which can be up to 1,200 square feet, and then one JADU, which can be up to 500 square feet.

Okay, so it's a total of three if they wanted to.

Three ADUs plus the main single family house, the main house. So it's over a total of four.

Okay. So as of right now, have anyone requested more than two?

I don't have that answer at the top of my mind, but that's something we could definitely look into and get back to you with a specific answer on that.

Okay. I don't have a problem with ADU and whatnot. I think it's important to make sure we house our parents or young adults who need a place to stay. But I think we also need to respect the community as well. In my District 1, we have a lot of single homes, and we don't want... to be disrespectful or devalue uh you know the values of the homes in district one is million and up you know nothing is lower than that and i know that they want me to defend their values and i just ask that we be respectful of that request Thank you.

Okay.

Anything else from the desk? Yes, Mayor.

Yeah, Council Member Moore. Thank you, Mayor.

You just, I wanted to ask you about the sign code update, and you mentioned that it will be presented to us the first quarter of next year. I know you just recently joined us, but this is one of extremely frustration for me because I know we started this Many, many, many years ago when I served in the planning commission, that was, you know, quite a while ago. And we still haven't, you say you're still just scratching the surface on that. Is that where we're at?

So I will answer that question on behalf of the department to have some more history than Richard on that. You're right, it was that long ago. And at the time, former leadership in the department decided that they would do that in-house. And then that in-house effort kept starting and restarting. And when we last took it over from the manager that retired, we found that it was not worth continuing to work on that version of it. So we've since rebooted it and now there's a consultant. And I can turn it back over to Richard who can talk about who's working on it now and how many hours. So we have a concern on it. Yeah. Yeah.

It's just a frustrating part, not just because it's been so long, but in that timeframe to today, I've seen it in our community, which luckily, yes, I'm in favor. There has been some facade upgrades in certain commercial properties, and they went back to using the old box sign. And that was something when I was on there that we specifically said we didn't want to go because they're so outdated. And they're so very, they're not high quality. And our current codes allow them to do that. But you get my frustration, right? That it's been so long and we're missing the opportunity. to really enhance the aesthetics of our community when they're doing these upgrades. And they're choosing those bucks because they're very economical. And some folks don't want to expend the funds to really enhance their property. They just want to just get bare bones. And we're really missing the opportunity to have that done. The other thing, do you have kind of a, Like an average time frame as far as our permitting process goes right now? I know that's been a very, between the mayor here, all of us here have expressed some frustration with how long the time frame for getting an application done. Do you kind of have an average time frame?

Yeah, what I'm seeing so far in my first 90 days with the department is that there's a lot of variation. In general, the applicants that are well prepared with submissions that don't require revisions, they can move quickly. They can move for like a standard CUP in four to six months. But if applicants are not prepared, if their submission materials are incomplete, if they don't have studies initiated, it can take double or triple that amount of time. And so what my priority is gonna be on is being really transparent about what our expectations are, offering to screen materials before they submit, making myself and our staff available to discuss what the requirements are so applicants fully understand what the commitment is, what the expectations are for quality, how they can get through things quickly, how they can resolve and move fast if that's their desire. What I'm seeing so far, though, is that the staff are doing their part. They're turning things around relatively quickly. But we don't control the time frame that applicants take on their end of things. So what we can do is we can revise our checklists. We can put more content on our website. We can schedule hours to focus on particular topics that seem to be frequently challenging for applicants. And that's what we're committed to do.

So you're saying about four to six months for CUP? Right. Is that like in the industry?

That's consistent with industry standard, yeah. That's what I would say. Based on my experience working in several agencies across Southern California, that's more typical.

Okay.

All right. Thank you. I'm not sure that there's a motion on the floor. If not, I will move to receive and file this item.

I second it. All right. Thank you.

Motion and second on the floor.

I have a motion made by Mayor Nguyen, seconded by District 2, Council Member Monson. To receive and file the report, District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Motion carried 4-0-1 with Councilwoman Fan West absent.

5.5 strategic plan goal number four, improve customer service delivery to the community strategic plan objective, review and update flow charts and develop customer service oriented material that better informs developers and residents on the community development department's work process and how city customers can best partner with the city on development projects stop report please thank you mr mayor richard rojas again director of community development i'll be presenting this item as well

And if you can see my slide, I'll be starting, let's see here, I'll jump right to slide two in case you're looking at a printed version. But as you know, as we were just discussing on the previous item, development review is quite complex. It's very technical. It requires coordination across a variety of different disciplines, as well as stakeholders, including the applicant, their consultants, our consultants, various city departments, and other agencies that control various aspects of infrastructure. and have a say in decisions related to new development. And so what we've been thinking about is developing a brand new approach to how we deal with customer service for the department. And we're calling it our Community Development Partnership Guide. We want to establish and make it very clear that we are going to be much more customer service oriented in our approach to development review, emphasizing collaboration, transparency, and clear communication. We want this to be built on a principle of building our community together. We want people to understand, everyone involved, that the city's role extends beyond just regulatory review. As staff, we are, yes, regulatory reviewers, but we're also project facilitators, technical advisors, and community stewards. We do our best to balance the city's responsibility to maintain adopted standards and protect the community while helping applicants successfully navigate the process. And so our proposed initiative for the department establishes five customer service principles. And they are accessible, transparent, consistent, solution-oriented, and respectful. We want to develop a variety of educational and outreach materials to really make it clear to everyone, including staff, but also the community, how we intend to live up to these principles. We want to, we've already published, and if we're in internal use only, a community development partnership guide that we will distribute to staff through a series of trainings that we want to schedule immediately. We also want to develop social media and public educations to guide residents that may be following us on our social media accounts. with tips and suggestions and contacts for some of their challenges they may be facing. We're also going to produce a development process guide, as I mentioned previously, new application checklists, and new website resources. We want to develop brochures that we can display in our lobby, as well as posters that resemble the one that you can see on the screen here, where we really emphasize the feeling, the level of quality, the level of service that we want to provide to everyone that comes in and we serve. And we think that, again, based on successful efforts of this being utilized in other organizations where they've really made customer service a priority, it's little things like this that go quite a long way. We also want to make sure that our external communications match the customer experience. So we want to really focus on what are the specific direction that we can give to staff to help them understand what it is that we're asking them to fulfill, and we want to continually refine that. We also want to make it clear what can cause delay, what can cause frustration, and how that can be avoided. This is definitely, you know, we play a role in improving on our side of things as staff. But again, as I mentioned previously, there are things that applicants can do that stakeholders can do to avoid delays on their ends as well. And we just want to be very transparent about time spent on different aspects of reviewing, where a project is at any given time. And so we'll need to build new systems in order to be able to track all those details and report out that data. So going forward, what we intend to do is, over the next year, we want to roll out this partnership guide. We want to unveil new checklists and new materials that we can put up on our counter and put on our website. We want to come up with something new every month. We've actually already started this kind of a slow rollout internally focused with our code enforcement communications and our planning communications but we're hoping to offer a little bit of something for every different division within the department again we want to create new social media and lobby materials improve standards through training of staff and begin rollout of this campaign as soon as you give the green light So with that, that concludes staff's presentation. Again, I'm available for any questions.

Any questions?

All right, thank you very much. Is there any questions, comments from the dais? If not, then I will entertain if there's a motion for it.

Motion to receive and file. Second.

Motion and second on the floor. Go ahead.

I have a motion made by District 2, Councilmember Monzo, seconded by Vice Mayor Nguyen to receive and file the report. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen. Yes. Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Motion carried 4-0-1 with District 1, Councilwoman Fan West absent.

All right, moving on to 5.6, selection of venue operator proposal for Westminster Road Center Theater and banquet facility, a multicultural center. May I ask for a stop report, please?

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Westminster City Council. Tonight, let's pull up my presentation. Tonight, staff will provide an overview of the Rose Center venue operator procurement process as it stands today and the evaluation of the four proposals that were received. I'll begin with a brief background on the procurement. We will then provide a brief profile of each proposer. Finally, we'll take a closer look at the evaluation results, including the highest ranked proposer and the factors that distinguished. So this is an overall timeline. But before we get to the October to 2025 item on here, the Rose Center itself, I want to provide a little context, is a banquet facility lobby. It has an outdoor patio, a performance venue, which we heard lots about tonight. And the facility is operated by an outside operator and has historically been managed through outside operator agreements. since the building's inception. The Friends of the Rose Center Theater currently is the theater operator. And then in 2025, the city engaged Theater DNA to conduct an operational study. The study findings were presented to city council in October of last year. The council directed, after that presentation, staff to retain Theater DNA to assist with the development of the venue operator RFP that reflected council's goals for this facility. So then in January, Theater DNA began their work interviewing council members to determine council goals for this facility. Council members used that time to clarify their goals, and then ultimately that was confirmed at an open council meeting. In April 2026, the venue operator RFP was released for public bidding. And in May, staff conducted an initial screening to confirm that each proposer met mandatory requirements. In June, staff returned to council with an update on the procurement timeline and requested additional clarification regarding council's preferences and direction. Council directed us to interview the four proposers, and those interviews were conducted in July. In August, the selection committee completed their evaluations of all four proposers. These were based on the submitted proposals and interviews. This brings us to tonight's item. So the Rose Center facility goals that were discussed through the theater DNA process that began in January includes increasing cultural diversity programming in the facility, expanding access and participation so the facility is available for nonprofit users, and organizations that are located throughout the city and the county, attracting a broader range of users and events, maintaining opportunities for the city to continue to use this facility, and generating revenue to offset the city's overall operating costs. Council also desired to have a single operator responsible for managing the facility. So the creation of the RFP, it was originally drafted through comments by Theater DNA, which is the city's consultant, based on the council interviews as well as industry standards. The draft was then circulated and reviewed by department staff from community services, public works, city attorneys, city administration, And then ultimately the RFP was released in April. The result was four operators submitted proposals. So this is actually supposed to be at a different spot. Sorry, we're gonna skip that. So the, so the evaluation, sorry, evaluation process, oh, this is not even the correct, please hold, sorry. If you can, yeah. Sorry, I think with all the technical difficulties,

PowerPoint got switched around.

Bear with me just a moment.

Yeah.

I don't see it on my side.

Tonya, do you see it on your side?

Because on this side, it's actually not pulled up.

Okay, we'll get back to the place we were.

So these are the, just a brief introduction to each of the proposers that's submitted to the RFP. Their contact information is on this slide, as well as information about their operators.

Keep going. Go ahead, go ahead and move on. At this point here, at this point here, let's stop and we work together. Please, please. Go ahead.

Okay, thank you. So this slide provides a table of how council priorities align with the venue, the Rose Center venue operator evaluation. So here we have on the column all the way to the left, the requirement was to be able to operate legally here in California, participate in the site tour either virtually or in person, have at least five years managing similar venues. demonstrate experience with performing arts and event facilities, preferably have demonstrated work experience with other public sector organizations. And then council had a preference for a single operator over the entire facility. And then council also in June said a no management fee model that did not rely on a management fee structure. So this is how each of those four operators kind of ranked, answered those questions. As you go over to the right, you can see how they were each categorized. So staff worked with Theater DNA throughout the evaluation process to review proposals for completeness, irregularities, assess their compliance with the RFP requirements, industry standards, and council priorities. We worked together to develop questions to address areas to address those irregularities between the different proposers. The interviews were conducted in person by city staff and Theater DNA was available as a technical resource at the interview. They listened in and observed but did not rate or rank any of the proposers. The Rose Center is somewhat different than a traditional procurement that we see throughout the city and cities in general. Not a single set of specifications applies. There's many ways to do management, to manage the facility, and we saw that with the proposers. They had four very different responses, and so this has taken a little bit more attention and time because of that. That was one of the reasons that we returned to Council in June to clarify Council's preferences and obtain direction before we moved on to evaluation. Proposers were evaluated based on both their submitted proposals and their interviews. The scores were not calculated as a separate proposal versus interview. They weren't weighted. They were averaged together, so as a whole. Each evaluator considered the complete proposal presented, including any written and the interview that occurred. And they assigned an overall evaluation in the areas that were mentioned. Each proposer was also notified of tonight's meeting, tonight's council presentation and provided information on how to participate and we saw some of those participate tonight. So the categories which were put together by the raters and they provided a consistent framework for the evaluation. There was 10 categories. Each category had a maximum of five points allowed in each category per rater. The proposers could receive a maximum score of 50. The categories, as I stated, were not weighted differently. Each category was evaluated independently by both raters using a five point scale. One was equal to poor, two fair, three good, four very good and five was excellent. The 10 categories are listed here where we have innovation, multicultural programming, revenue development, community engagement, technology, marketing, operation planning, organization and completeness, customer experience and creativity. These individuals category scores were then combined to provide a composite evaluative score that could be between 10 points and 50 points.

I would like to remind you at this time, staff, and I ask you to be patient and listen to the presentation. You have the time before you spoke before us, and you will have time to speak at the end when there is oral communication. So at this point here, please, let staff and the city council do their work. Thank you.

The evaluation results, based on the proposals and interviews, Latin Asian Hospitality Group received the highest overall rating or evaluation. Their composite score was 43. Their lowest category rating was good for multicultural programming, but all other ratings from both evaluators were very good or excellent, which contributed to their high score. The purpose of highlighting these scores is not to simply identify the numerical rating, but also to provide context for what the evaluation committee identified as factors that influence the score as the highest ranking proposal. Several elements made them stand out. We're only talking about them since they had the highest ranking. The others we're not gonna necessarily go through at this moment. Several things that stood out from Latin Asian Hospitality Group was their focus on innovation and technology along with proactive approach to marketing and demonstrate experience operating similar facilities in the business model. They articulated their operational plan clearly and presented a business model that has been implemented in other facilities. During the interview, the evaluation committee also presented proposal with challenges and scenarios and their responses demonstrated an ability to think through issues in real time while remaining aligned with the city's stated goals. Their proposed business model also provides for direct revenue to the city, which was with the stated objective of achieving full cost recovery. Another positive aspect was their willingness to acknowledge their limitations in their proposal. They identified potential solutions. An example of the solution is one that Rhody mentioned when he came up, which was to work with existing partners and the community to have resident programming and leverage partnerships to increase areas where they lacked. From the evaluation committee's perspective, this demonstrated flexibility, willingness to build partnerships, rather than approach the venue management as a standalone operation. In the area of innovation, the proposer demonstrated collaborative approach articulating ideas very clearly and responded constructively as they were presented with questions. Though Latin Asian Hospitality Group model is a management fee model, staff felt their overall evaluation was worthy of consideration based on their comparative scores in the categories presented. Though the management fee model is contrary to council's expressed goals, the revenue generating potential and cost recovery of funds back to the city exceeds the management fee. Finally, I just want to talk about the procurement process. You guys saw this slide last time I was here. So we've moved a step forward. Here we are looking for council direction to advise staff. about which vendor you would like us to move forward with and begin negotiations. Tonight's decision is not an intention to award, but rather council may consider the information presented and provide direction to which proposer they choose, if any. And then staff will begin negotiations. At this time, oh, and so we don't have a contract for you to look at because we have not begun negotiations with any of the proposers as of yet. At this time, staff is available to answer any questions and receive direction from counsel.

Okay. Before we go into that, I just want to let you know that, well, the reason that I run very strict with the policy that we have in-house. If one person requested to pause and to go back, then other people can do the same thing, and we can get it moving. So that's the reason why I ask you to be patient with us on that. We have to have to have consistently get the process moving. Secondly, I want to make the points. I know that from the public comment earlier and also from late communication that there are still a number of people saying that keep the role center the way it is. And I want to let you know, nothing changed. All we do, this is the last and final that I'm going to tell you again, that there is nothing changed with that except the contracts is up and we open up for the fair selection and also we looking for whoever that is that effectively and efficiently running the Pro Center. That's all. So at this time here, I am going to speak first, and go ahead and put the five minutes for me. Well, first of all, I want to thank our staff for your effort in helping bring everyone together throughout this process and provide your invaluable input. I certainly appreciate your transparency and your willingness to be clear and upfront about the issues and consideration before us. And this is out of the quote from your staff report. Due to the different operating models presented in each proposal, as well as the varying priorities and perspective of individual council members, the city council is being asked to reach a consensus on which proposer is best suited to operate the venue and best aligned with the city goals and requirements. So with that, I want to thank you for that. And to the council member, I think it is very important to recognize that each organization or business model is different. Because of the business and operation models are vastly different, staff is seeking direction from the Council regarding our preferred business model and management style. And that is exactly why we are here tonight, to provide that direction. Due to the differences in operation from one proposer to another, as well as the varying proposal, we need to carefully evaluate which organization or business model are best suited to operate this venue and serve the best interest in our entire community. Our goal is to select an operator who is not only capable of effectively managing the venue, but also work closely with the city to meet its requirements, but who also understand the respect of our community as a whole and is committed to enhancing activities, programs, and opportunity for benefit of our residents. Over the past year and a half, we have had a valuable opportunity to talk about the Rose Center Theater and Banquet Hall. It is one of the most unique and valuable assets in our community and in the region. The center has operated for 20 years, and for years, however, there have always been concerns raised about the efficiency of the center and whether the programming and accessibility reflects our Westminster community and culture. I want to make it clear, the study we conducted with the expert has never been about kicking anyone out. It has always been to ensure, please, this has always been to ensure our beloved theaters and how our operational wealth is financially successful and reflects our diverse community. When I have said that the past that I don't want to spend I want to make it clear that I don't want us to spend a penny when an outside operator is using, operating, and managing our facility. There is no reason for us to pay for others to profit. After hearing the presentation and public comments earlier, I would like to direct staff to move forward with negotiating the agreement. And at this time, I would like to go ahead and open up for City Council comments. Is there anything out from the dais? Sure, I can start. Yeah, if you want to start, Council Member Mason.

Thank you, Mayor. So first of all, I just want to thank you for, I know you guys have been working hard on this and it's been a very emotional as well, but for the community, as you can see, very difficult on the emotions. This theater is a heartbeat of our community and not just the city of Westminster, but as you can see, folks from our surrounding cities and all over come to our city to enjoy the talents and the great performances at the theater. So it's the heartbeat of many communities, but luckily it's here in the city of Westminster. So I know it's been hard. One of the issues that I had at the beginning was just Some of this information that you presented on your slide as far as the ratings go and all that, I would have liked to have seen that in a staff report so we can have that opportunity at home when we're reviewing the agenda so we can have more information I get it, you're presenting it to us right now, but that was a frustration when I saw that it seemed like very little information was in here for us to make a decision that's so big. I would like to have seen that. That being said, one of the things that I think we all strive for is transparency and And not having that information kind of makes people start thinking things that maybe may not be true. But anyways, by not having that information out there, it could give people the wrong impression or the wrong optics. So we can try to get those, try to have that much information in there as possible for us to go over. And again, and I see the categories that you had in your proposals in a, And I can see now, after the staff report, after I see and hear your report, I can see how you got to that 43. Originally, I was like, how did you twice as high than the others? So I was kind of a little bit leery about that. But now that I see your report, I can see that. And one of the... What Council wanted was a single operator, and this Latin Asian hospitality group, you have them as they would be a single operator. But we all know, and the reason they scored high is their willingness to have the most qualified operator for the theater side. which they come to the consensus that it is the Friends of the Rose Center. There is no question about the quality of performances, the quality of the operations that they conducted for 20 years. We know through the Theater DNA report that we paid $30,000 to have that they raised over $300,000 for the operation of the theater. I understand that. And there also a recommendation was an amendment for us to capture the cost of utilities, which they currently are doing right now by paying us what they're paying us now. So I can see now how you got to that. So it seems to me that This Latin Asian hospitality group really is the most qualified to be able to operate the banquet facility side and with collaboration the theater side. If we have somebody, an operator, who is... not qualified or inexperienced to run the theater side, it would be extremely detrimental to our community and all the folks who enjoy the theater operation and the performances and all the acts, all the kids that got a start there in their careers, in their acting careers. We've heard from some folks here who they've gone on to Broadway and even bigger than that. So that's something for us as council and as a community to be proud of that that's what that theater has offered to our community. So now I can see how you got to that point. Thank you, council member. Yep, we'll come back second round. Thank you.

Any question from the council? You have five minutes.

Yes, please. Yeah, thanks, Mayor. I'm just surprised that some residents of the city still think that we're going to shut down the Rose Theater. I mean, that's that's far from the point. We just want a vendor through the RFP process. Who can can you bring up Sean? Can you bring up the slide on proposal evaluation?

Is this the slide you were speaking of?

No, the proposal evaluation. There you go.

It's this one.

I think my slides are different than yours.

I think yes. When the computer malfunctioned, we went back to an older variety of printed handouts that you all have.

Is the one with the picture with the banquet?

The one where we have the city. State of the city. State of the city, yes.

Oh no, that wasn't, okay, so that was part of a presentation that that slide was deleted out of this slide deck. I apologize that you guys are seeing something that we are not presenting because that is definitely, that was not our intention. The computer worked against us.

I think it's a full moon outside, I'm sorry.

Basically, my slide said that basically the vendor, we want to increase the cultural diversity programming facility available for all non-profit use within the city by expanding community access and participation. There we go.

We found it. There you go. Found it. Right there.

So we want a vendor who can accomplish all these priorities. And these priorities basically came about because through the interviews with the mayor and all the council members, right? Right. So we're not shutting down the theater or anything like that. We want a vendor who can accomplish these priorities with the best use of the theater for the city in terms of financially and culturally. I would like to know what each vendor can bring to the table for the city. I mean, to me right now, it doesn't seem there's very concrete evidence yet, right? Or maybe during your interview with them, we're not privily to that information. But I would like to know what each vendor will bring to the table for the city.

So we did follow, and this will touch on a comment made by Council Member Manzo, we did follow a vetted common RFP process between Theater DNA as the technical experts, they were there to essentially Monitor the dialogue and make sure that promises that were unreasonable weren't being made and make staff aware if that was happening So we had adults and experts in the room and then collectively our team I mean I've been doing this for 30 years proposing and overseeing RFPs combined and the same goes for veterans of our industry with the senior management analyst as well as our director so the process was followed and typically what we do is we bring you a ranking of And then staff has the council directs us to move forward with the negotiation. We have had other instances in which the council has wanted to see a little bit more. And I'll let the city manager jump in as to how we could achieve that if that is what the council would like to do. But as far as putting everything out there right now, the idea is to bring a ranking and for council to make a decision for us to engage that one group, whoever it is. And for us to have the other groups in the waiting, in the event that that negotiation process doesn't move forward, we can move on to another group or reboot the RFP, whatever the council wants to do. But disclosing everything about everyone is not a part of your typical RFP process.

Okay. I look at the scoring, you know, 43, 22, 21, 21. I'm actually quite surprised. I would expect the Friends of the Rose Theater to be, to score much higher since they've been doing it for 20 years, right? And they, I mean, I don't want to say they have the inside track, but, I mean, they've been doing it for 20 years. I would expect them to be the top scorer I was surprised that they only score about half of what Latin Asian.

That's a very good point. The thing to keep in mind when you move forward through an RFP process is that the contractor or the applicant, sorry, the contractor or the operator that has the contract has the inside edge, but they are not given points for being there. The RFP process is a clean slate, and the idea is that they would bring their 20 years experience plus innovation and other things that the council is now asking more of, they would bring that to the table on the day of the interview and essentially that is their score based on their performance on that day. They don't get extra points for having been there for 20 years and that's just a part of the process. I was a part of firms where we were there for 10 years and then we lost the contract because we didn't perform on the day that there was a reevaluation, the very typical. But I understand your mind, your logic and where that went.

Before we move on, we would like to have a question for city attorney. I know this is a very important items that we need to make decision on this, so I don't mind to go more than two times until the council seem that we need to move for what they call call for questions, then we at that time will take the action. At this time here, do we have to ask for the motion or is that good enough that I can go ahead and move on with that? If I don't make it clear for you, then this is, we have the policy that is only after two terms, then we have to ask for it.

Right, so your policy says, well, a couple things. Number one is it's close to 10 o'clock, so we're gonna need to have a motion at some point. your policy says that each council member gets five minutes and Then each council member then gets an additional five minutes if they want it, right? And then the City Council has the option to say actually no We're gonna go for a third round or a fourth round you you have the option But if you don't agree to extend for everybody then you're done at the two rounds, but we have to emotion there you would have to Agree to allow more discussion. Okay, so I appreciate that.

At this time here, before we're moving on, we're almost 10 o'clock. I would like to move to extend the meeting time to whatever is needed.

I second that. OK.

Just for the record, correct me if I'm wrong, city attorney or city manager, the policy as far as the 10 o'clock time limit, that goes, if we're in the process of a current item, then you wait until the item's over to vote to extend, not in the middle of the item. We can wait till the end of the item is done. That's what the policy is.

I don't think there's any opposition from anybody on the council to continuing discussion. No, I know.

Just for the record that maybe you can review it because we've done this a few times and we voted right in the middle of an item. Okay.

Well, for tonight, if we have to go back and look at the policy for tonight, we can go ahead and move to extend the meeting time in any way we can. Yep. Is there a second to it?

I already second.

Okay, all right.

I have a motion made by Mayor Nguyen, seconded by District 1, Councilwoman Fan West, to extend the meeting past 10 p.m. per city policy. I'll go ahead and call roll. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo.

Yes.

District 4, Councilmember Nguyen.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Mayor Nguyen.

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

Okay, we are still in the first round if there's no question.

Mayor, can I continue my train of thoughts?

Okay, are you five minutes up yet?

Yes, I am. So this is my second five.

Then let's move with the... Yeah, let's start with the first round. Thank you. Okay, so I meet with staff. Yeah, I have the same question, too, regarding the grading. And you guys did elaborate that it's kind of like an interview. If you come and if you don't perform that day, you miss the opportunity. And I hope everyone who's coming for this interview, RFP, should be prepared to come with the answer to shine. I mean, I have work in certain area in the public sector, and I made sure that I come and shine to be the top three that's higher that day. So I don't know exactly why. I expect the same thing as Councilman Mark Nguyen, that the Rose Theater should have a higher score just because they have tons of experience. So from what you explained to us on the dais here is that they didn't come to perform. And I'm not judging staff because I believe you guys are expert. You guys do your job. You interview so many people regarding different position on staff here as well as different, you know, contractor that you guys do jobs. do your due diligence. So I don't criticize you guys on that, nor do I trust you guys on your judgment with that. So I am bummed to see the rating for the Rose Theater. I don't know what happened there, but I just hope, of course, with the majority of the council, and I want to jump on what Councilman Mark was saying, that we are not trying to get rid of the theater. We're trying to implement who is the best person to rejuvenate it, to bring and generate more money into the city and fit the culture of the city. So I just want to make that clear, too. As you guys know, I've been defending the Rose Theater with Carlos Monzo on the dais for a few years now. Because my family, we do theater. Our boys do theater as well. So I understand... how it influence our children and it gives a good venue for them to be creative and learn and build their confidence. So I do see that. So for this performance and the score that they score, I don't know what happened here. So I just, if, I mean, Tim want to talk to us about it, I'm more than happy to, but I don't think he's here. You know, but I'm bum on that scoring. So I do want the best for our city because that's our responsibility as council member and mayor up here is that we think of a whole of the city of Westminster and we wanna be fugal with the money that comes into our city because it's your tax dollars. And we wanna be able to have a facility that will cover everyone as well. So I'm open-minded and I wanna hear why those people who are on top why they score so well, you know what I mean? So I do want to see that as well. I'm open-minded.

Anything else before we go to the second round?

I'm good, but Councilman Napa? No. So you can go around to Mr. Napa. Yes. Okay.

All right. Thank you. I will go for second round. Now, I know that we have three vendors representative here tonight. And I know that also that from staff saying that it's different models, then here we are reviewing the model and management style to make sure that who is the one that best suited for managing the operator. I'd like to go back to slide number seven, please.

Is this the one, sir? The matrix with everybody?

Yes, this is it, okay? You know, I don't know how you are, yeah, of course I respect you to come, you know, come to the scoring, but I'd like to make a point here. For the last row, say management-free. I believe that we stated very clearly that we don't want to pay anyone to come in and manage our facility, and we have to pay for it. And we make it very clear. And this is the company that you are having a highest score that they are asking for management fee. So with that, I don't think that I am in favor of that. So with all the other things, I respect you for your judgment on that, but I will reserve on this one here. And at the same time, we have the represent from Roast Center today. I hear you guys when you guys have a public comment. I heard that Don Anderson came up and also talked about it, but then he very much, you know, talking about why is, you know, staff come up with this number and he didn't agree with that and so on. I have not. heard of what you are bringing to table. I understand for the last 20 years you've been doing that, but this is a different process. This is going to be fair for everyone who are turning in the proposal. I also heard from a Latin Asian. And with the management fee, I don't really in favor of that. for their TLC. I heard that they were saying that they have 14 years of experience in preserving the community, and they are in the city of Westminster, and they are going to provide 10% of the profit after expense. And what else? So with these right here, I would like to explore more from the TLC. And at this time, I have the TLC in-house. May I ask the representative to come up? So we have some question for you.

Should we do an inquiries here in public? Isn't that for staff to do? I just question.

I mean, I want to know. I want to know other vendors, too. If that's okay.

So quickly, I don't have time.

It's my time still for one minute here. I'm going to ask you a few questions and then you answer it because I'm running out of time. First of all, like I mentioned, you said that you have experience, 14 years. Where have you... you know, manage the company before, and preserving for the community, and then 10% of their profit sharing. And I believe that you also mentioned, oh, here, you mentioned that you are going to put in the investment, initial investment. So go ahead and answer all those questions to see.

Yes. I do have 14 years experience managing the Saigon Performing Arts Center. Originally, I'm the owner of Saigon Performing Arts Center. And then it got transferred to VicFace TV, and then I am the shareholder of VicFace TV. So my experience with the theaters and with the televisions, have plenty of experience to deal with public, provide customer service, and handling events from A to Z. Also, I mentioned in my oral communication that we will invest $500,000 for the operating resources. And we also pay rent for the city of Westminster and provide a share, 10% profit sharing to the city. So if we at Roe Center grow, then everything's grow together with the city.

Okay.

One more thing about the banquet. I know you didn't ask for that.

Five minutes. Yeah, right now. So right now, hold up. I have a question. My five minutes is done. And so we will go on with another council member, which is Carlos Menzo.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Sean, earlier in the conversation, during your staff report, you mentioned about exceeding management fee from the Latin Asian group. What was that?

I have a question for Heather.

What did you mean by that?

About the management fee?

Yeah. During your staff report, you made the comment about as far as the management fee and that they would exceed management fee. What is... Was that the return, or what was that?

Yeah, so the management fee, and they also are in the room, so if you wanted to talk with them directly.

Well, it was your staff report.

But I can provide the information, I apologize. So yes, the management fee model has cost recovery built into it. They have a series of revenues that would co-serve directly flow back to the city. So a facility rental fee would flow back to the city. And so they estimate in that first year of working as the facility operator, they would generate approximately $465,000 in revenue. that would offset the little over $100,000 of venue management fee that they're requesting up front. But that has to be vetted out.

Yeah, so is that they're set on that model of operation?

What was that again, sir?

Are they set on that model of operation?

So that's something that could be discussed in negotiations. We just have not begun negotiations, so we haven't vetted that further.

Sir, you're here. Can you answer that question?

Up here.

So we're not here to interrupt the current operations. We're actually here to enhance what they're currently doing. In addition, we're going to maximize the banquet facility and so many different forms and shapes. Plus we adding a new element that was not in the report, which is adding a community kitchen and commissary kitchen for small businesses that they can add up for a brick and mortar right now. So that's kind of foster, um, a different level of revenue for the city. In addition to the rental, uh, income, that is uncapped. If you go the tenant model approach, you're hitting a ceiling. With our model, you're basically working with the property management to leverage all the three levels of the operations. Your commissary kitchen, your banquet facilities to maximize it. We're not going to turn down anybody coming in through the banquet facility so we can have someone who wants to do a celebration of life for 20 people and as high as doing a thousand people, corporate events, multiple layers, multiple days. So in those particular scenarios, the city would generate revenue through the rentals, through parking. Um, we are also, uh, uh, contemplating the sponsorships and grants that will go straight to the city. So the city is looking actually to make more than, um, about a million dollars or so during the course of the time. So it's uncapped. The more we generate, the more we push, the more the city will make.

There's no ceiling on the ceiling?

Exactly. There's no ceiling. And we conducted a study that we can, in year four, we can definitely take the venue to a $4.5 to $5 million ceiling. uh, uh, income generation through all the, through all the three models and still delivering the goal that the city wants to do. Community engagement, helping small businesses grow as small businesses. If they start a, they start a business in the kitchen, they will get a business license through the city. You know, they would generate a little bit more revenue, they will pay taxes and you're still helping someone that cannot afford a $10,000 brick and mortar location. they can literally start with as little as $1,000, for example, on the kitchen side. And we have run kitchen operations, and on the normal basis, those kitchens are running anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000, just that particular pillar. We're not including the banquet. The banquet is one thing, plus we also giving you a 10% revenue share for everything that we include on the banquet facility. We have a liquor license, We're not coming here to experiment. We're coming here to hit the floor running. And we're coming here to also catch all the events that are happening next year, wedding season, all those things are happening. So we're not coming to generate more of anything. It's just a balancing act while still keeping the theater intact. But the theater needs to be subsidized. The theater is a subsidy program. It cannot operate by itself, so you need someone, an operator like us that we can generate on the banquet facility, we can generate more income, we can find sponsorships, then we can subsidize the theater so they can continue to do programming or even increase the programming because they will have enough funding. The only thing that we request is support to streamline everything. utilize more vendors, more outsource items so we can lower the cost on labor because labor is extremely expensive. With us or the management fee, you not only get one team, you get a group of accountants, you get a group of legal teams that are going to also be working with your legal teams, marketing people, janitorial people. It's the whole spectrum. This is not one person because the venue does require It does require a big team right now because it's been sitting there by itself for a long time. Not only that, but you still have control to decide what gets done there. Or if you want to host public meetings there, you get to also call the shots there and you have more flexibility versus if I'm a tenant. The approach is different because you cannot really, you know, force the tenant to do something that, you know, to open, which is the current model that you had before. They were open for only a certain time.

I appreciate your answer.

I hope I answered your question.

Yes, you did. Thank you.

Okay, so my turn?

Okay, can I have you up one more time, sir? My vice mayor is next.

Can I have, is it your turn? Okay, go ahead. All right.

Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Yes, since you're here, how would you bring about maintaining some of the, let's say, for example, some of the program that we like from, say, Friends of the Rose? How would you do that?

By financially supporting what they do.

Financially supporting because... How would you do the partnership with them?

The way that we would work with them, we have a software called Triple C. That software... enhances the way that people buy tickets, the way that seats are covered, and the fees that seats work. Usually when people go to concerts, there's different levels, different tiers. The upper level has a different tier, the lower level has a different tier. So sharing with them our toolbox of marketing and our technology will help them tremendously.

But my point is, how are you going to bring about those similar kind of program? Are you going to partner with, say, them or some other vendor similar to them to bring these kind of, let's say, Shakespearean play, Christmas carols, stuff like that?

My plan is to work with them and their priorities and their calendar. Whatever calendars they don't utilize, those are the days that I plan to utilize to... to rent those spaces out so we can increase revenue that way. So if they want us to, we also were mentored by a worldwide entertainment company. So we can also place a call to some of those entertainment companies and bring them into the mix because this is a teamwork. This is not a solo act to be able to make the center.

All right, okay, thank you. Let me ask the rep from TLC to come up to answer the same question. I can step away.

Okay, thank you. Hold on to the clock. City clerk, hold on the clock once.

So I want to know how would, let's say, TLC, because we like, let's say, the program, a similar program to what the Friends of the Rose bring to the city, right? How would you... bring those similar kind of programs? I know you're going to have other kinds of programs and, you know, how would you bring, let's say, that segment of, you know, the venue back to the Rose?

Well, I have reviewed the DNA reports and I saw those name of the customer who booked the Rose Center and I recognize at least one-third of those customers that I have worked with at Saigon Performance Arts. And in the future, if I do get to run for operator, to run for the Rose Center, like I said, I will reserve all the, I will commit to reserve all the existing programs and willing to work with the Friends of the Rose if they have any annual programs to be booked for the year.

Now you mentioned earlier that the $500,000, what would the city be allowed to use that for? I mean, are you going to have any restriction on that money in terms of whatever that we need to do initially for the roads?

Yeah. We plan to invest $500,000 for operation resource. And as we already submitted in our proposal and the budget planning, that we plan to spend $70,000 to repair the flooring, like mentioned in the DNA report. And we will put $50,000 to upgrade the banquet area, let's say the furnitures, the decorated items, which will attract more customers that way. And $20,000 we will spend on the red carpet, And then $10,000 is to upgrade or repair the theater entrance as needed.

OK. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. So from what I can see, I mean, I like both your response. I think that TLC has the local experience in terms of their experience at the Little Saigon Performing Arts, and they also have experience running restaurants. I do like that. That doesn't mean that I dislike your proposal. So, I mean, at this time, I'd like to make a motion to have city staff work with TLC initially, and then let's see if there's any...

I still have a question. My second one.

I expect my motion. Yeah, go ahead.

Okay. Okay. Wait, please, sir. Would you please? I will ask you specifically to come up and talk about it. Right now, it's not your turn yet. Please, sit down.

Thank you, Don.

Okay, so my turn to ask questions.

Okay, so I want to take up, if you can come back up quick. Okay, because I have only five minutes, so I have to do quick. I have three of you guys to interview. Okay, so you mentioned that the 10% is only for catering, right? Out of that.

Food and beverages.

Okay, no theater, just the catering side?

Yeah, the theater will still operate their own way, their own P&L. Yeah. Okay, got it. Nothing has to do with it.

Okay, that's all I need to know, yes or no on that. Okay, now, okay, can I get the lady again, TLC? I have four minutes, so TLC, can you pause? Till she come up. Okay, so he mentioned that he will build a kitchen in the catering side. Are you guys gonna build a kitchen to help facilitate that?

Yes, we will evaluate the kitchen to see what's needed so that we can upgrade it so that we can operate the banquet.

Okay, thank you. And then regarding the liquor license, he has it. Do you guys have it?

Yes, I do have a full liquor license.

Okay, and the 10%, are you for the catering and theater side or just catering like his?

Total net operating expense of TLC. Okay.

Perfect. Okay, that's good. Thank you so much. Can I have the Rose Theater, Tim? Hi, Tim. Thank you. Okay, so I'm going to ask you the same thing. So I know that you submit an application for both side, right? Yep. Okay. So I know TLC and them, they were saying that they have the 10%. He is only on the cater side. They are able, TLC is able to do both side, theater and catering. Is that the same for the new contract that you're planning to do?

Yes, and we actually applied for both, for just the theater side or for theater and banquet. if that is what the choice would be. And we, as you know, we already do pay a fee, a nice hefty monthly fee for services that we provide there for you. On top of that, we provide all of the of the operational costs, which are approximately 500,000 a year, which we would continue to provide, which we have been. And also, we did actually meet and talk about a percentage fee as well, again, over and above those operational fees. And so that would be a fee percentage per event.

Okay, and then regarding the kitchen, they're all both planning to do the kitchen?

And we're planning on using outside vendors, exactly, for all catering so that we have an option. If we were to do that, we would hire outside catering for each of the events individually, such as you would do in the community room here or a lot of the other spaces that you have in Westminster.

Okay. And then so with the 10%, he's mentioned that he can raise about $400,000 to $500,000. So 10% is about between $40,000 and $50,000 a year for the city. Is that something you're able to do as well?

Well, it would depend on the customers that we would get, of course, and what our rentals would be. So it's hard to predict exactly how much we would be able to – you know, do that, but if we were to go from just the theater side, like I mentioned, we were already contributing over $500,000, so we would be able to continue that for sure, and then probably more than if we were to add banquet along with it, of course.

So maybe around $700,000 a year?

Could be, yes.

Okay.

I don't want to take up your time.

Go ahead. You want me to finish? Okay. And then the other question is, do you guys have a liquor license?

We don't have a curtain. Okay. Okay. Certainly apply and get one. Yes.

Okay. I know it's a little personal. I was a little bummed when I saw the rating. I know you do really well, you know, with your performance at the theater. You don't have to share, but if you can share, if you want to, you know, what happened?

Well, I'm not sure. I felt like we had a very good interview. I do know that there's a little bit of issues on the city's end, actually, in our interview, because they were not prepared for our interview when we came in. It was 40 minutes late to get started because they were having some technical issues. And I know that what actually ended up happening was that the Theatre DNA people were not even able to They weren't able to figure out how to use the Zoom camera on them in order for them to actually view us. We could view them, but they were not able to actually see us during our interview, so they could only hear us.

Okay, thank you.

If I may, Mayor, can I make a statement? Yes, please. So there is some paraphrasing that's happening from the dais, and one of the distinctions, and I want to let Shauna clarify, it had to do with the kitchen. There's a difference between a commissary kitchen and upgrades to the kitchen. It's a big part of the discussion, so I just wanted to give Shauna an opportunity to clarify, and I think the city manager has some stuff.

Okay, and then also I want to briefly respond about the technical difficulties we had during the interview. But the commissary kitchen, as Latin Asian hospitality group was mentioning, their business model has three, it's like a three-legged stool. One is the banquet facility, one is the theater, and then the third area is the kitchen, which would be converted as almost an incubator hub for our local businesses to come and use an hour, two hours of the kitchen time to... if they have a big order, if they're doing a larger event, if they wanna test out a market, a particular product. So they would rent the kitchen on blocks of time. They have been successful at this in a corporate kitchen in, I can't remember the city, and then they've been successful otherwise too. So successful that that venue was run by them for a period of time and then it was turned over transitioned back to the facility owner to continue running. That's how well that was set up. And that is a revenue generating component business of their business model that nobody else had. That was part of their innovation. That's one of the reasons they were ranked so high.

That's just the definition of a commissary kitchen versus the other groups that said we would assess the kitchen and upgrade it. Because it's a big difference and I think it was being perceived as possibly the same thing. So you just want to make that distinction.

And then the technical difficulties that, well, I mean, we've had them here tonight, too. So sometimes our systems don't function well. And so, yes, the camera was not functioning, but the audio was functioning. And then let's not forget that Theater DNA had been present in many conversations with friends of the Rose Center. through the operational model. So they definitely know them. So we did remedy the problem. It was very late, but we remedied the problem that day. They were able to do their full interview. Their interview was not cut short. It went on as planned.

Thank you. Okay.

I'm going to jump in and add to this conversation, a relatively quiet look. So we're getting to a point that as, you know, there's been a lot of conversation about why the proposals weren't included, why the ratings individually weren't included. And that was really to prevent what is happening tonight, which is we are full on negotiating at the dais. And the questions that should be, the questions that should be asking should be, clarification questions regarding maybe business, you know, et cetera, which is not, you know, which has happened before when we've awarded contracts. But as far as this deep dive into what we're negotiating, None of these points are going to be relevant when you pick who you want us to speak to, because this is supposed to be high level at this point. So you got a number rating, you got categories that show these are the touch points, and at the end of it, based on those ratings, that's where you would make the decision. but we shouldn't be having this practice of negotiating with each other on the diets because that is the next step of what we're supposed to be doing behind the scenes based on your direction tonight. So I just want to make that clear. As far as preparation goes, whether there's technical difficulties or not, you're either prepared or you're not. You know about your business or you don't. And so the ratings are based on performance on the interview on that particular day, And the proposals that were received, and that's it. So any of these auxiliary extras that are being added on, we're not part of these ratings. So I just want to make that clear. But it can be a part of the negotiation process that happens once you decide who you want us to negotiate with, whoever that is.

I totally agree with you on that. And I think that we need to give the equal time for the operator to answer the questions. And so I have a couple of questions for you. my, you know, whoever. First of all, I, you know, clarifying, clarifying, I'm not negotiating the contract here.

Sorry, Mr. Mayor, may I, I believe, are we done with the second round? Yes. So are you starting the third round now? Right, we are starting with the third round. So to get to the third round, you need a consensus from the council. Yes.

Okay, I move to continue with this one. I second it. Okay, all right. Okay, all right. Call for...

I have a motion made by Mayor Wynn, seconded by District 1, Councilwoman Fan West, to go a third round. District 1, Councilwoman Fan West. Fan West, aye. District 2, Councilmember Monzo. Yes. District 4, Councilmember Wynn.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Wynn. Yes. Mayor Wynn.

Yes.

Motion carried 5-0.

All right, so these are the questions that I have for you. So I'm gonna ask question first, and then I ask you to pause so they can answer that. First of all, just clarifying, I know that after the DNA study and we are trying to renew your contract, and you know for the fact that there are certain costs to operate, continue to operate the theater. And at one point, you can't go with that recommendation. And right now, with the new contract that negotiation, is it burdensome for you in terms of paying the rent, not only the cost, not only for the theater, but also for the banquet?

No, it has not been any type of a burden at all for us.

Okay. The second question I have for you is that I think you mentioned earlier that you are catering in for the banquet instead of the, okay. So that is, the third thing is have you ever experienced up running the banquet?

Yes. Sherry Titus, who's our banquet manager on our end, has ran banquet services for the city of Cerritos for 15, 20 years.

Okay. All right. Thank you very much for that. I would like to bring the TLC up again for questions. You mentioned earlier that you are the owner of Performance Arts at one time, and then you are being a partner with them. How big is the Saigon Performing Arts compared to, do you know anything about their Rose Theater? How big is that compared to the Rose Center?

Saigon Performing Arts originally have 580 seats and then lately they removed two row seats at the back and it's only have 560 seats for now.

Okay, next question, follow up question is when you are running the Saigon Performing Arts, were there any problem that we need to know of right now?

When they rent the Saigon Performing Arts, I do not have any problems at all. It's just that if we provide good customer service, they will come back unhappy. And they rebook annually.

One last question for you. If they were to grant you the opportunity to run this center, will you or were you not working with any ethnic group or any organization that are within our community?

As I am performing arts, all the events that I run and provide service for them is including religious events, which include Buddhism and Catholic. As far as for the nonprofit, I, myself, the member of two nonprofit organizations. I heard that. So I have a well connection with all the nonprofit, and when they approach me, then I provide them a good service, I understand their needs, and then everything is just a smooth events.

Are you locally or you are not, are you locally here?

Yes, I said before that I am a Westminster resident.

Okay. I guess those are the questions that I have for you. How do they work with the community? How do you work with the community? You answered that question already? Okay, I got that. Well, with that, I will second the vice mayor to direct staff to negotiate the contract with, you know, and then bring the contract back to us. In case that, you know, if there is not working out, then we have to consider another. But right now, I think that, you know, I am in favor of... directing CD staff to work with TLC. I will second you on that.

Okay, we're not done yet.

You absolutely have a chance to talk about it. Now is your turn.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, it's pretty unfortunate that what we have here. First, thank you. I appreciate it. First, my colleagues choose to not listen to the experts. Theater DNA, that's their profession. That's what they do for a living, is assess and vet the operations of theaters. We took that $30,000 and just threw it out the window because, obviously, the people up here with no experience whatsoever know best. Now we go through this process of the RFP, which my colleagues didn't want to do. The staff told them that's the legal process. Now they go through this process, and with the help of Theater DNA, which we're paying again to do this, that's more taxpayer money, you go through this. The professionals vet them, score them, they score them high, and again, my colleagues know best, and they throw that information out the window again. So what we have here, folks, is just a dog and pony show. The people who were here a while ago saw this happening way before when the mayor ran out into the audience and apologized to the folks, so... I'm sorry that I'm being so blunt and don't think that I'm being disrespectful. I'm just telling it like it is. Those are the facts, okay? My colleagues seem to not take any professional assessment. They have their preference, and that's what they're going to do. Our city is at stake. Do we want somebody who didn't even have the qualifications to score to the highest score to be practicing on our facilities? I think not. I think in order, like I said, this is not just a building. that's there with four walls this is a community this is that has been built for 20 years generating all this community all the when i say community i mean people this community is people all right that had poured their heart and soul into that into into those performances right Like I said earlier, this move that's going on right now is going to be extremely detrimental to our community. The Friends of the Rose Center, as assessed by Theater DNA, they've been doing a great job for 20 years. And they recommended that we continue with them as the operators of the theater. And they also recommended that either we select an operator for the banquet side or the city run the banquet side ourselves. But no, that's not what my colleagues are choosing to do. Okay. So that is extremely, right now this is going to just be a practice, I think. I'm not trying to be disrespectful to the other proposers, but the experts and the staff had made their recommendations. There's no ceiling to the profit that, according to the gentleman here and according to staff, that there's no ceiling to the revenue that can be generated through their expertise and all their experience with entertainment. And there's three levels of the kitchen that they can be making top revenue from. It's right here. So obviously what's best for the community is not what's being done right now. So I have only one vote, only one vote, and that's all I can do. And I want to make a substitute motion to go with the experts, to go with the experts and their recommendation. and the folks who scored twice as high as the other proposers, including TLC. That is my motion, my substitute motion, to go with the experts. To go with the experts, that's my motion.

All right, thank you. Before I ask for the second, if there's any, I want to make sure it is clear to everyone here on the council. We know that Theater DNA, we hired them to help us with the process. We actually have them rating the operator or not.

No, the Theater DNA did not conduct any of the ratings. They were simply listeners.

So I just want to make sure that he mentioned that the expert, and it's not expert. This is from the staff only.

Sorry, staff is not experts?

Well, I don't know.

Well, earlier you were giving them all these accommodations for all the great jobs.

I think it's my turn.