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CC - Item 5B - Minutes of January 24, 2023Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 1 of 35 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 24, 2023 The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Dang at 7:00 p.m., in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. PRESENT: Mayor Dang, Mayor Pro Tem Ly, Council Members Armenta, Clark, and Low ABSENT: None PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Council Member Clark INVOCATION was led by Council Member Armenta STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Kim, City Attorney Richman, Director of Finance Chua, Interim Director of Community Development Wong, Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking, Director of Public Works Chung, and City Clerk Hernandez 1.PUBLIC COMMENT There being no speakers, Mayor Dang opened and closed the Public Comment period. 2.PRESENTATIONS A.Introduction of Newly Hired Public Works Manager, Oscar Madariaga; Public Works Maintenance Worker, Luis Valero; Finance Accountant, Polly Tan; and Administrative Specialist, Kendahl Gottes Director of Public Works Chung introduced Public Works Manager Oscar Madariaga who will be responsible for leading the Public Works Public Services team that maintains the City's facilities, parks, and infrastructure; noted Public Works Maintenance Worker Luis Valero will be introduced at the next Council meeting as he had an unexpected family matter to attend tonight. Director of Finance Chua introduced Finance Accountant Polly Tan, shared that she was born and raised in Rosemead; Polly will help process over 5,000 journal entry records that we do every year. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking introduced Administrative Specialist Kendahl Gottes overseeing administrative duties as well as our marketing and advertisement. The City Council welcomed the newly hired staff to the Rosemead family! B.Recognition of the Rosemead Rebel Cheerleaders on Winning First Place in the San Gabriel Junior All-American Conference and Second Place in the Jamz State Championship AGENDA ITEM 5.B Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 2 of 35 The City Council presented Certificates of Recognition and In-N-Out gift cards to the Rosemead Rebel Cheerleaders for winning first place in the San Gabriel Junior All-American Conference and Second Place in the Jamz State Championship. Mayor Dang stated we will take a five-minute recess to allow time for the youth recognized and their families to exit the Chamber since it is a school night. Mayor Dang reconvened the meeting at 7:53 p.m. 3. PUBLIC HEARING - None 4. CONSENT CALENDAR ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to approve Consent Calendar Items A through E. Consent Calendar Item F was pulled for separate discussion. The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None A. Claims and Demands • Resolution No. 2023-08 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA, ALLOWING CERTAIN CLAIMS AND DEMANDS IN THE SUM OF $1,780,468.01 CHECKS NUMBERED 113116 THROUGH NUMBER 113232, DRAFTS NUMBERED 6166 THROUGH NUMBER 6208 AND EFT NUMBERED 51454 THROUGH NUMBER 51474 INCLUSIVELY CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2023-08. B. Minutes CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendations: That the City Council approve the regular meeting minutes of July 13, 2021. C. Acceptance of Annual Audit Reports for The Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022 The certified public accounting firm of Lance, Soll & Lunghard, LLP (LSL) was engaged by the City Council to perform an audit of the financial statements and perform compliance testing of the City of Rosemead of the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. LSL conducted the audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and issued an unmodified (clean) audit opinion on the financial statements. The report provides a summary of the audit report to be used as a companion to the published Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). Also Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 3 of 35 included are the Rosemead Housing Development Corporation Financial and Compliance Report, and other documents related to the financial audit. CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council receive and file the City of Rosemead Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the Rosemead Housing Development Corporation Annual Financial Statements, and other related audit reports for fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. D. Approval of First Amendment to Professional Services Agreement with Transtech Engineers, Inc. to Provide Traffic Engineering, Engineering Support, and Public Works Permit Inspection Services On September 7, 2021, the City Council approved a one-year extension to the professional services agreement with Transtech Engineers, Inc. in the amount of $342,420.00 to provide City Engineering, Traffic Engineering and General Engineering services. Transtech’s Agreement expires on February 18, 2023. Staff has requested Transtech to submit a proposal to amend their Agreement for approximately 16 months to align with the start/end of the City’s fiscal year (June 30, 2024). Transtech’s proposal includes an hourly rate fee schedule increase of 2.76% compared to their 2021/22 fee schedule. This fee increase is reasonable and well below the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase of approximately 7%. Furthermore, due to the City’s recent addition of a full-time City Engineer, the scope of services is proposed to be amended to reduce and reclassify City Engineering services to Engineering Support services and increase Traffic Engineering services to address the City’s backlog of traffic analyses related to Traffic Commission items and community requests. CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute the First Amendment to the professional services agreement with Transtech Engineers, Inc. for engineering services to extend the agreement term from February 18, 2023, to June 30, 2024, in a not-to-exceed amount of $431,200. E. Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 1013 - Approval of Planned Development 22-01 and Zone Change 22-01, Amending the Zoning Map of the Subject Site from Single Family Residential (R-1) to Planned Development (P-D) Zone at 8601 Mission Drive and Affordable Housing Agreement On January 10, 2023, the City Council introduced for first reading, Ordinance No. 1013, an ordinance adopting the approval of Planned Development 22-01 and Zone Change 22-01, amending the Zoning Map of the subject site from Single Family Residential (R-1) to Planned Development (P-D) zone. The subject site is located at 8601 Mission Drive. In addition, the City Council directed staff to work with the applicant to revise the Affordable Housing Agreement. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 4 of 35 CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Move to approve the second reading and adopt Ordinance No. 1013, by title only, entitled: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, FOR THE APPROVAL OF PLANNED DEVELOPMENT 22-01 AND ZONE CHANGE 22-01, AMENDING THE ZONING MAP OF THE SUBJECT SITE FROM SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL (R-1) TO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (P-D) ZONE. THE SUBJECT SITE IS LOCATED AT 8601 MISSION DRIVE; 2. Authorize the City Manager to execute an Affordable Housing Agreement with Mission Villas, LLC for four affordable units; and 3. Find that the City of Rosemead acting as a Lead Agency, has completed an Initial Study in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code Section 21000-21177) and pursuant to Section 15063 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR). The City has concluded that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment with the incorporation of mitigation measures and has therefore prepared a Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration. CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM PULLED FOR SEPARATE DISCUSSION F. Solid Waste Collection and Street Sweeping Evaluation At the December 13, 2022, City Council Meeting, Council Member Armenta requested that staff evaluate the following information: 1) the number of cities that combine their solid waste collection and street sweeping services through their franchise solid waste hauler; 2) for the cities that combine services, how many of the waste haulers provide street sweeping services through an internal operation versus subcontracting with an external street sweeping service provider, and 3) the annual increase for the solid waste collection service rates for the cities that combine services. The purpose of this report is to provide the results of staff’s solid waste collection and street sweeping services evaluation. CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council review and file the report. Mayor Dang opened the Public Comment period. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 5 of 35 City Clerk Hernandez read the following Public Comment received from Brian Lewin via phone. Dear Mayor and City Council, Thank you for this report. It outlines very clearly which specific company the proposed RFP was designed to benefit; and therefore, it also shows exactly why the city should not go down that route. So, again, I ask you to please bifurcate the trash service and street sweeping as they currently are and keep them that way. Thank you. There being no further comments, Mayor Dang closed the Public Comment period. Council Member Clark stated apparently residents in these cities are paying just about double of what we are and right now we have Athens doing the street sweeping and they're doing a fine job. Expressed I'm very much against the bundling issue if it's going to mean that the residents are going to be paying for street sweeping. They're not right now, we don't need to because it's not even coming out of our General Fund. I'm very adamant that we do not pass this on to the residents, especially with inflation, people are really hurting. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asserted that it's a receive and file and we are not voting on this item tonight. Mayor Dang stated that's my understanding too. Council Member Clark responded we can make comments since the item is listed on the agenda. Council Member Armenta stated I'm the Council Member that asked for this item to be put on the agenda. I want to make sure that all of the data is there. We all know that the more information we have the better judgments that we're able to make and what is best for the City of Rosemead. It was very surprising and alarming to see all the cities that were bundling up their trash and street sweeping services and that it fell under the same company. I am going to express the same concern I did the last time, it's monopolizing the industry, but it also does not sit well with me that there's a possibility that street sweeping can fall back on our residents. I have no doubt that they could lowball us and then try to make up the difference by raising the prices on the trash. Because when you bundle something, you don't know if it's coming from the trash or it's coming from the street sweeping. If you go to San Gabriel, our neighboring city, they pay $44.28 per month. We pay every three months, and it's about $71 or $72, multiply that by three, and we're talking about $132.84. Ms. Armenta stated the reason I brought this up is the fact that we're looking into the RFP that's going out on the 27th or 28th. Mayor Pro Tem Ly clarified that the RFP has been out. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 6 of 35 Council Member Armenta stated Director of Public Works Chung was a little hesitant. He and I spoke because he had other data and being the diligent and hard worker that he is for Rosemead, he asked if we could extend this because he wanted to make sure he was prepared. I want to thank Mr. Chung for being very honest and informed me that he received data, but it didn't match. That’s why it took a little longer because he went above and beyond by called the cities back to ensure we have all the proper data we the Council needs. Implored her colleagues on the Council to really look at all the data when we are deciding whether or not we're going to bundle the street sweeping and the trash. You know, I've always said really great things about Mr. Ed Chen from Athens, so my concern has nothing to do with the service that Athens is providing as street sweepers. Emphasized as a policy maker, we have to make sure that this is not falling on the backs of our residents if the street sweeping is lowballed, and they have to make it up some other way. Reiterated it's very daunting to see all the cities in the San Gabriel Valley that have bundled their services with the same company. Mayor Pro Tem Ly thanked Ms. Armenta for bringing this item up in general as more data is better than less data. Expressed, what Ms. Armenta uses as her decision- making process is reserved for her, much like how my decision-making process is reserved for me. I want to thank Mr. Chung for doing the extra due diligence. Stated now that we've received an amended copy of the Staff Report, I have a couple of questions. Asked for confirmation that we had a mandatory pre-bid meeting, meaning unless you attended that meeting, you cannot bid in the contract. Are you allowed to share which companies attended the pre-bid meeting? Director of Public Works Chung replied that that's correct and the following companies attended the pre-bid meeting: Republic Services, Athens Services, Valley Vista, Waste Management, and BirdTech. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I know that one of the concerns was only one company did bundling of the street sweeping and the trash hauling. However, in the amended Staff Report, I see that Valley Vista, Athens Services, as well as BirdTech, submitted proposals where they did bundling services. Also included on here was CR&R, but I didn't mention them specifically because they did not attend the pre-bid meeting and as such they cannot submit a bid for trash. This is important for me as a decision- making process because we need to ask ourselves, are we creating a fair system? What the majority of the Council voted on was that we would consider bundling. It didn't mean that it was end all be all. We can still as a Council choose to not bundle the service. So we have three of the five companies that we know attended the pre- bid meetings which gave them the capability to submit bundle service. Director of Public Works Chung affirmed that's correct. That said though we don't prevent the other two from either submitting a standalone bid or submitting a bid where they subcontract out for street sweeping. Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented that it’s just part of that decision-making process. All we've done based off the Staff Report is give the information that we are not Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 7 of 35 biased to just one company, that we actually have multiple companies that did attend the pre-bid meeting, that have that capability to submit and decide whether to include bundle services or not. The Council still reserves the right to bundle the service or not. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked where the other data is as he is only seeing certain cities, but not numbers from the addendum cities. Opined some of this information can be somewhat misleading mainly because, number one, we're not looking into an apples-to-apples comparison. We don't know exactly what goes into the Duarte contract versus the Rosemead contract versus Temple City contract, etc. Shared that he totally understands and appreciates the concern for rates that Council Members Clark and Armenta have noted. It's why I am committed to choosing the overall lowest bid that both benefits the resident as well as the business community. That's what I did 11 years ago and it wasn't until we went into deep negotiations with them that they decided to finally cap out those bids. I want to remind Council of that fact. But had I had that choice 11 years ago, we would have chosen that lowest bid, which was not Republic Services. I'm still committed to choosing the best bid, the lowest bid possible. Stated from the five haulers that you mentioned, I believe all five of them can do the job. Council Member Armenta stated Mayor Pro Tem Ly can finish his research and then we can bring it back or whatever the will of the Council is; emphasized that this is important again to making sound decisions for the City of Rosemead residents and businesses. Mayor Dang echoed some of the sentiments of his colleagues. I think this is very important. I do want to thank Council Member Armenta for bringing this item to the Council, and I appreciate Director Chung taking the time and energy to produce this data. Again, I think reiterating some of the words from Mayor Pro Tem Ly, we're here just to commit to finding the best deal for our residents, whether it be a separate waste hauler, trash sweeper or any other possible combination with subcontractors or whatnot. I think our job as Council Members is just make the best deal. ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to receive and file the report. The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None 5. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. Proposed Founder’s Park Discussion The City Council will discuss and give direction to staff regarding the licensed Southern California Edison Corridor property that is located between Mission Drive and Wells Street just west of Walnut Grove Avenue. Currently, the City has a five year license agreement with SCE which is set to expire on August 31, 2026. Staff has been unable to secure a funding source to build the proposed Founder’s Park at this SCE location. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 8 of 35 CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council provide direction relative to this matter. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I know we have already tabled this item twice; however, I am going to ask that we postpone this item one more time. Emphasized it is important that we have our Edison Representative, Sal Ramirez, at the meeting when we discuss this item so he can answer questions or address any concerns on behalf of Edison. By consensus, the City Council tabled this item for the next meeting. Council Member Clark stated as long as we're going to postpone it, asked if we could get information on how well the other parks we have under the Edison lines, Zapopan Park and Jay Imperial Park are utilized on a Saturday or Sunday. Council Member Low asked for clarification as to what Council Member Clark is expecting – how do you want staff to measure how well utilized the parks are? Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded are you asking staff to count how many people are in the park, if so, are you counting the homeless that are there, etc.? Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking responded that Council Member Clark and I can connect tomorrow to go over a couple of ideas; opined it will be hard to get solid data, but we can aim to get ballpark data. Council Member Clark thanked Mr. Boecking. B. Del Mar Community Garden Services – Award of Contract The City would like to once again contract with CultivaLA, Inc. for garden support services at the Del Mar Community Garden. CultivaLA Inc. provides a wide range of services to help enrich the lives of residents living in the community and our Community Garden users. The purpose of this agreement is to continuously design, implement, and provide a learning experience to the visitors and users of the Del Mar Community Garden. CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the proposed contract with CultivaLA, Inc. from February 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024 and authorize the City Manager to execute the contract on behalf of the City. Director of Parks ad Recreation Boecking stated the item before you is a one-year agreement for garden support services for the Del Mar Community Garden. This agreement would be with CultivaLA who has been providing services since May of 2021. The proposed agreement would begin on February 1, 2023 through Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 9 of 35 January 31, 2024 and not to exceed $29,950. Mr. Boecking introduced Jose Miguel Ruiz, the founder and CEO of CultivaLA to share a few comments. Jose Miguel Ruiz, Founder and CEO of CultivaLA, shared about who CultivaLA is a non-profit 501C3 and we have various operations. We have six community gardens, a five acre farm in South El Monte and we have members that range from 17 year olds to 65 years old and plus so it's an intergenerational organization. CultivaLA has been very active as an organization, noting one of our locations in Downtown LA was actually the first in the County to host a vaccine drive vaccinating over 4,700 folks at this particular location. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking provided a PowerPoint presentation, So as far as a proposal, there's three components to the proposal. Community development and engagement, so it's maintaining weekly communication with garden users, organizing garden cleanups, and also communicating with staff. Improvement of physical space, it's maintaining the soil health. Community seating and herb area, which there's a great communal area now, but improving that. A wash area, which we currently have one, but improving that. A compost area and then also developing more of our fruit tree orchard. We also have educational and wellness support, Cultiva in-person support. Cultiva provides a staff member two days a week who is trilingual, who is amazing and has a great relationship with the participants and plot renters. Introduction and tool safety, crop identification and production, cultivation techniques and harvest, community activities and to continue to engage schools and classrooms and build that program. In moving forward, we do know there's been a couple hiccups. All marketing materials will be approved by the Parks and Recreation staff prior to the release of any information. All sponsorships will be approved by staff as well. Parks and Recreation must approve all garden activities prior to any planning and information of those activities. Staff would recommend that the City Council approve the proposed contract with Cultiva LA and that you authorize the City Manager to execute that contract on behalf of the City. Council Member Armenta asked Mr. Ruiz if CultivaLA has partnerships with any of the school districts, and if so, what does that entail? Mr. Ruiz responded recently we've had a partnerships with Garvey School District, Mr. Naka from the Kiwanis Builders Club, and the Garvey Intermediate School. They've come to the site two times, they've brought about 15 to 20 of their young men and women. It’s quite amazing that they came during the Thanksgiving break and we had our director of operations conduct a harvest session and they also came during the winter break which was around Christmas time. What's unique about this partnership as well is that parents were involved and it was the first time they ever set foot at that particular community garden. So it was a way of bridging the school while also sparking other districts to be interested in bringing their students for programming. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 10 of 35 Council Member Armenta Now that you said Christmas, is there even a possibility of growing Christmas trees? We used to have a Christmas tree farm around here. Mr. Ruiz At our Westlake Community Garden, you're not going to believe it, we did 20 tons of snow. Don't ask me how we got it there but it came from San Diego in a truck. We also had 700 toys for free. This was all free of charge and we did a 20-foot tree lighting. And the idea is that, you know, for some folks this is really the extension of their backyard. Some do live in overcrowded or even in a nice 3500 plus a condo and they just simply don't have green spaces and that could be an extension of a winter wonderland for some of these folks as well. Council Member Armenta Thank you and I really do appreciate, I know that when we had the grand opening of the, it was called the second community garden. I know that Mayor and myself received the pepper tree, the little pepper plants and now I have peppers all over my backyard. So it's just really neat. But the reason why I actually am the one that brought this on to the agenda because in working with you for the past couple of years, it didn't feel that there was a contract with just CultivaLA, it felt like it was also a contract with one of the supervisors. We are contracting with you and we need to make sure that all materials that are going out is approved by our city. To be very honest with you, when I saw one of the supervisors posting on her Facebook page saying, come to our pumpkin patch, We have never received not one dime for any of our community gardens and I want to thank our Mayor Pro Tem. It's his vision of bringing these community gardens to Rosemead and so our staff works really hard in making it our own and when there's you know things going out on social media and they're coming in bringing up signs saying it's their pumpkin patch it's a little concerning because we have the contract with you. We don't have the contract with them. And so I'm glad that we're able to speak about this because you're doing a wonderful job. Every year the kids are have so much fun in the pumpkin patch and just everything. I know that you also did Lunar New Year. And so it has nothing to do with that it's just that we need to make sure that we're all on the same page and we're all making sure that the city is also authorizing those flyers and any material that's going out there because we never want to deceive any of our residents to say that somebody else is part of our work. Mr. Ruiz shared that we're excited just to you know bring other partners as well. I know most recently we've had Boeing interested, we had the National Park Service at our other locations, and we've been selected among you know other organizations at the county level but also at the state level. And then we actually have one of our California Climate Court Fellows so this is a very distinguished. Mayor Dang asked if there is a fruit tree orchard at the other community garden or only this specific one? Mr. Boecking responded it is only at the Del Mar Community Garden. The Glendon Way Community Garden is strictly just plots as of right now. There is talk into how we could develop that a little bit more, but we're not at that point yet. So what is on here is a proposal just for the Del Mar Community Garden. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 11 of 35 Mayor Dang stated he is curious about the age group that you pay most attention to obviously is the younger kids because there's an educational component to it. And is there anything that sort of grouped toward the more of the senior residents? Is there anything on your agenda for that type of crowd? Mr. Ruiz replied as you may have imagined with the recent events, you know, just a few days back, you know, my background is as a social worker, so it's always gearing. What is the mental well-being from a senior perspective? We've actually had a tea session. Every Wednesday, we actually bring a tea kettle. We have, just for lunar year, mooncakes. Mayor Dang suggested creating a program that has more of an exotic food component because seniors love fruits. A class on just grafting these trees, reproducing it, grafting by some of those methods. That will bring a lot of interest to your community and it will attract the more senior Asian groups to this community garden. So that's something I would like see. Mr. Ruiz thanked Mayor Dang for the suggestion. In some of the slides, we sometimes have these cleanups where they always start with food and they end up with food. These long Japanese green bees could actually be used for dumplings and were grown at the garden. So now it's also creating a new way of using what we grow with Japanese or Asian flavor, which I'm amazed by it. I think you're onto something and we hope to have a little more of that programming as well when it comes to the culinary piece of it. Council Member Clark stated I'm very much excited about this these gardens because I think even years ago they would say kids didn't even know where things came from wherever they've grown they just think they get it at the store and that's it you know. And then especially with all the electronics the kids are addicted to. There's a book (reference the book from Ericka’s minutes) called, you guys have heard me say this last time in the woods, they're not even getting out to the backyard, tree to the forest or anything. And so this is helping kids to get away from that hopefully, so I really appreciate that. There is one thing that I did want to bring up though, during the heavy rains, apparently because the garden is maybe a foot off above the behind to the east of the Buddhist temple it flooded over there, so I hope we can resolve that problem. Mr. Boecking asserted that it's already been addressed with our Public Works Department. Council Member Clark responded wonderful and I'm very much in favor of this. Council Member Armenta now that we have the Del Mar Community Garden in partnership with the Garvey School District; hopefully the Glendon Way Community Garden can be in partnership with the Rosemead School District, as Janson Elementary School is in close proximity and has a vacant lot right after the plots, which could be a great location for the fruit trees. Hopefully we could see that in the future. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 12 of 35 ACTION: Moved by Council Member Armenta and seconded by Council Member Clark to approve the proposed contract with CultivaLA, Inc. from February 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024 and authorize the City Manager to execute the contract on behalf of the City. The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Armenta, Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None C. Discussion and Direction on Partial Street Closure of Olney Street In 2017, the City received reports of speeding and excessive pass-through traffic on Olney St. between Rio Hondo Ave. and Temple City Blvd. to access the westbound I-10 Freeway on-ramp at Temple City Blvd. In response, staff evaluated the traffic conditions and developed traffic calming measures for Traffic Commission review and consideration. The Traffic Commission has reviewed and discussed residents’ traffic concerns in this area during three Traffic Commission meetings. Staff previously recommended various incremental mitigation measures to address concerns. However, in 2018 many residents voiced a greater preference for closing the east end of Olney Street at Temple City Blvd. to eliminate the westbound I-10 on-ramp access and access to Olney St. from southbound Temple City Blvd. Based on November 7, 2019, Traffic Commission Meeting recommendations, at the December 10, 2019, City Council Meeting, the City Council directed staff to proceed with preparing preliminary design and cost estimates to implement the Traffic Commission’s recommendations of a partial street closure of Olney Street. The recommendations included closing eastbound Olney Street to the westbound I-10 Freeway on-ramp and installing radar speed feedback signs, warning signs, and larger speed limit signs on Olney Street. Recommendation: That the City Council take the following actions: 1. Further discuss the item and provide direction regarding the implementation of the Traffic Commission recommendations of a partial closure on Olney Street between Temple City Blvd. and Rio Hondo Ave; and 2. Find that the proposed action involves the minor alteration of existing public infrastructure; therefore, the project is Class 1 Categorically Exempt pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Council Member Armenta asserted that for this Item 5C, I have to excuse myself from the dais as I live on the subject street, so I will be a member of the public. City Attorney Richman explained for the record, because this is affecting Ms. Armenta’s personal home, there is the exception where if there is a personal interest versus other types of interests, she is allowed to remain in the audience and can speak on the item during Public Comment. Mayor Pro Tem Ly clarified so Ms. Armenta is a member of the public for this item. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 13 of 35 Director of Public Works Chung stated staff was directed to prepare preliminary plans and estimates for Council’s consideration at a future City Council meeting, the preliminary plans and estimates were completed in April 2020. However, the City Council directed staff to present the plans and estimates to the City Council after the COVID-19 pandemic has improved for increased resident attendance at the Council meeting. Current Public Works staff has reviewed the traffic analysis report, the preliminary plans and estimates, and has validated the results. Referenced the arrow map of the PowerPoint presentation which displayed an image of a street view of Olney Street looking east towards Temple City Boulevard; noted the traffic study boundary is highlighted in orange. The existing intersection includes a through lane for southbound Temple City Boulevard traffic accessing the westbound I-10 on-ramp. A right-turn access from southbound Temple City Boulevard to Olney Street. A right-turn access from Olney Street onto West I-10 off-ramp and a median for traffic management. The proposed scope of work includes an extension of the existing median to the existing curb to close the right-turn access onto I-10 freeway. The median consists of a river rock embedded in concrete similar to the existing median, a proposed guardrail to improve safety, and radar feedback signs, directional signage, and speed limit signs for improved traffic operations. The cost estimate to implement the project, including preparing a final bid package, construction management and inspection services, and construction is approximately. This estimate includes a 20% increase to account for inflation between the years 2020 and 2023 to reflect current market costs. The project duration is estimated to take 10 to 12 months, and that includes a potential Caltrans encryption permit process that may take between six to eight months. Mr. Chung discussed the traffic analysis report that outlines advantages and disadvantages to the closure. Some of the advantages are limiting eastbound traffic and speeding on Olney Street for drivers accessing the westbound I-10 on-ramp; improved driveway access for residents on the south side of Olney Street that have difficulty entering and exiting their driveway due to passing traffic; also eliminating three-point U-turns into Olney Street residence driveways performed by drivers traveling southbound on Temple City Boulevard and eastbound Olney Street to access the westbound I-10 on-ramp. Some of the disadvantages include increased traffic volumes on Ellis Lane from Olney Street to Marshall Street, on Vane Avenue and Mary Beth, Marshall Street from Temple City Boulevard and Ellis Lane, and the southbound lanes of Temple City Boulevard; in addition, it will eliminate the westbound I-10 freeway access to residents in the adjacent neighborhood. Staff recommends that the City Council further discuss this item and provide direction regarding the implementation of the Traffic Commission recommendations of a partial closure on Olney Street between Temple City Boulevard and Rio Hondo Avenue. Council Member Clark stated I remember requesting this be postponed during COVID because people would not have the ability to be involved in the dialogue in person. Have we notified people in the last two weeks or so that this item was coming before the Council to make a decision? Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 14 of 35 Director of Public Works Chung responded other than posting this agenda, we have not notified residents of tonight’s item. Highlighted that this item was presented to the Traffic Commission on three different occasions and in those meetings, there was several residents in attendance. Initially, staff recommended incremental improvement in traffic, signage and striping but based on residents' reaction, they wanted a more significant change of permanent physical deterrent. Council Member Clark asked were the residents notified at all when it came before the Traffic Commission. Mr. Chung responded yes, they were notified. Noted every time we have a Traffic Commission item that impacts a street, we send out notifications to the residents affected. Council Member Clark stated I'm curious as to why we didn't send notifications this time when this is when we are making the decision. Mr. Chung responded for this item, all the effort to this point, the study, the traffic plans, that was all initiated based on residents' responses; asserted that the Traffic Commission is preliminary but there will be other opportunities; stated if it moves forward, we will go for construction bid and at that point there would be another opportunity for residents to respond. Council Member Low inquired if this item came up as a result of residents requesting this item. Director of Public Works Chung responded yes, during the Traffic Commission meeting, the residents came and were supportive of this change. The initial complaint or request was to evaluate excessive speeding and pass-through traffic. Based on that staff, they recommended incremental changes, such as signage and striping, but the residents didn't think that was enough. They wanted something like a physical deterrent, which would be a closure. So that was all based on residents' feedback to the Traffic Commission. Based on that feedback, Traffic Commission recommended that we initiate a study to evaluate the closure. That was taken to Council, then the Council directed staff to prepare preliminary plans and an estimate. Council Member Low ascertained that those residents knew from the Traffic Commission meeting that this was the proposed solution. Mr. Chung stated that's correct. Council Member Low emphasized I care about those residents in that area. Is that their request and what they want? Since the Traffic Commission recommended this, Council will take a look at it now with the residents’ wants taken into consideration as well. Mayor Dang opened the Public Comment period. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 15 of 35 Sandra Armenta, Resident, referred to slide 3 of the PowerPoint, the picture on the right is actually going westbound on Olney Street. You see a little bit of pavement there but that's the only pavement sidewalk that is on the whole street. So one of the concerns is safety for people that are walking down Olney Street. There is a lot of traffic that goes through there, a lot of speeding. There's actually a stop sign on Vane and Olney Street, but people run that stop sign. A neighbor’s car got demolished whose house is in front of the stop sign. Pointed out sometimes you can't even get out of your driveway when there is Caltrans doing maintenance work; shared there's been times where I cannot get out of my driveway because there's so many cars being diverted onto Olney Street because of maintenance. Ms. Armenta stated there is only one sidewalk that you'll see on Olney Street and the rest of the street has no sidewalks. Residents are very concerned because there are a lot of speeding vehicles that come down Olney Street. Expressed that my hope is that we have speed bumps, not steep hills. Stated I know that Mr. Chung is looking into that because back in 2017 when this first came about and was asked by the residents, we didn't have a speed bump policy. Asserted that there was none until Mr. Chung joined the Rosemead Team as the Director of Public Works. This is the only time we're actually looking into a speed bump policy. Commented that I'm going to be the devil's advocate here too – I could see that initially there's going to be a lot of confusion if people are used to driving down Temple City Boulevard and they don't want to get on the 10 Freeway and they want to make a turn, but they're not going to be able to. Mayor Pro Tem Ly said to piggyback off what Council Member Clark was asking, when it comes to our outreach, how were the residents notified of the Traffic Commission meeting? Director of Public Works Chung stated they were noticed through the Traffic Commission agenda. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked so we didn't do any particularly special notice? Mr. Chung responded that we notify residents within a 300-feet radius of the project. Mayor Pro Tem Ly replied that makes sense. Were the residents in this area that were proponents or opponents to this proposal, made aware of tonight’s meeting beyond the usual notification of the agenda? Mr. Chung responded no. Mayor Pro Tem Ly recommended giving courtesy notification to those who showed interest at a commission meeting that their item will be presented to the Council on this specific date, so they have the option to attend and speak on the item. Council Member Clark opined I would agree with that, except rather than picking and choosing who we notify, I think all residents on that street should be notified so that they are all aware and not blindsided. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 16 of 35 Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented that I don't want us to set a precedent or change staff’s notification process. Council Member Clark replied it’s not setting a precedent because we've always notified residents. Mayor Pro Tem Ly indicated that he is not disagreeing with that, but we notify through the agenda posting process. Explained the only time we don't do that is if it is for a public hearing. City Attorney Richman added that's when it's required to do it for those types of items but these are just practices. Mayor Pro Tem Ly pointed out that we just follow what state law says which is simply post the agenda unless it's a public hearing in which case whatever we're bound by, typically for land use or zoning code and things of that nature, we do that notification. City Attorney Richman affirmed it's just what the agenda posting process is. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated what I'm proposing goes above that, but if staff already notifies those residents within 300 feet at a Traffic Commission meeting and you choose not to attend, that means you're fine with and/or it doesn't concern you enough to show up. However, if you did attend, then you're showing enough of a vested interest that we should give you that courtesy notice that the Council will be making a decision at an upcoming meeting. Council Member Clark asked if all residents on both sides of the street, were notified when it went before the Traffic Commission? Director of Public Works Chung responded that I'll have to go back and take a look at the record to verify that. Council Member Clark expressed concern what if there are new residents who were not around when this item went to the Traffic Commission and are therefore unaware of this item; emphasized it’s better to provide notice to everyone rather than have a resident come here upset that they were never notified after everything is done. Ms. Armenta noted that there have been many people that have moved into the neighborhood since 2017 when this was initially went to the Traffic Commission; concurred with Council Member Clark, so there are new residents on Olney Street that may have not had the opportunity to weigh in. Mayor Dang opined I think there is enough outreach because this item already went to the Traffic Commission meeting for three sessions, on the Council agenda twice. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 17 of 35 Mayor Pro Tem Ly interjected we should probably decide whether or not we're going to table this before we engage in everything else. Council Member Clark reiterated the fact that Ms. Armenta mentioned there are new residents. Mayor Dang opined we should table this item. Addressed Council Member Clark’s concern, stating I don't think it's in our Municipal Code that the city has to constantly check if people move out, or there are new renters, or if someone passed away, etc. Emphasized I don't want to set any new precedents that way either. Mayor Pro Tem Ly added to the Mayor's point, we do have a process that currently exists; opined now whether or not our residents are engaged in that process is a completely different question. Highlighted that staff publishes the agenda at least 72 hours before a Council meeting, giving ample notice to residents to check what is on the agenda. Mr. Ly indicated I am trying to figure out a compromise that I think can address some of Ms. Clark's points, but Ms. Clark is not willing to work with me on this. Council Member Clark asked what is wrong with wanting to notify people on the subject street. Stated they're going to come here and say, “why didn't you let me know?” Then what are you going to say, “That it was on the agenda.” Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated when the public asks why we didn’t agendize this item later and have the public notified about this, I will let them know that it's because Ms. Clark refused to work with the Council in terms of getting this notice out there. Mayor Dang referenced slide 4 of the PowerPoint, I see the project duration is 10 to 12 months, including potential Caltrans encroachment. Is this a Caltrans street, if so, where is the Caltrans property or where is their authority line? Director of Public Works Chung responded that is a good question; stated during the preliminary plan development, they did not identify where the right-of-way is for Caltrans, so that's why it's potential. We will have to do further investigation to confirm that. Mayor Dang asked would you anticipate it being on Temple City Boulevard. Mr. Chung replied on the on-ramps portion of Temple City Boulevard. There's two items that can trigger this, if the median falls in the Caltrans right-of-way or there's a temporary construction encroachment that we'll need to attain from Caltrans which would expedite the process; however, if it's a permanent structure in Caltrans right- of-way that will require further review by their team. Mayor Dang inquired if there is a way to pull the median into the Olney side and skip the Caltrans review; suggested also to consider putting a gravel type of closure. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 18 of 35 Secondly, what if you put a tree in that gravel pocket; pointed out because even at night you could see the tree and it would be more of a vertical and physical deterrent. Mr. Chung answered as part of this median, you mentioned gravel, it's actually a large river rock that's embedded in concrete. So it's basically a concrete surface and the river bed is decorative. Also, in addition to that, they're adding guard rail. If the proposal or the school board proposes to add guard rail around the median, it would have reflective signage or markers on it. Mayor Dang stated it looks like the guardrail is on the opposite side as Ms. Armenta pointed out. Director of Public Works Chung commented as part of the preliminary plans, currently the cost estimate and the scope of work includes guardrail around the existing and new median, and the extended median, which will make it visible. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined I don’t agree with this plan. My concern is exactly what Ms. Armenta brought up earlier in her Public Comment about the Dutch boy plugging holes. We all know traffic is going to flow and in this area it's only getting worse because we're about to get denser and denser. So, I'm concerned with the increased traffic volumes on these other streets, and that's going to bring those residents here as well. I'd rather us look at additional traffic calming measures like, for example, what Ms. Armenta noted. Can we implement more drastic and what was once unprecedented, even like speed bumps on that street just really slowed down the traffic. I think the problem from what I've been hearing is that it's not necessarily that there is access, but most importantly that the street doesn't feel safe. We need to slow down the cars that are going too fast along that area. Reiterated I'd rather us look at additional traffic calming measures first instead of us shut down access to the freeway and only adding problems to those areas. Especially before we really take a drastic approach and spend six to eight months with Caltrans and spend $160,000 on this item. Council Member Low stated I tend to agree with that since we now have kind of additional tools such as a speed bump or other type of tools that we can look at and see options we have. I think we all agree the goal is just to slow down traffic. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined that's fine because you're talking about at least six to eight months anyway, number one, and that's just negotiating with Caltrans. There's no guarantee that they're going to give us an encroachment permit. Director of Public Works Chung concurred that there's no guarantee. Based on the analysis, they did reach out to Caltrans and Caltrans did not think it was an issue. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated so let’s say the best case scenario that they still don't think it's an issue, when would we go out to bid for this or would we would we wait until Caltrans has given us the permit or can we do certain things simultaneously. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 19 of 35 Mr. Chung responded no, we would wait until Caltrans has given us the permit; emphasized there are other things we need to consider such as looking at our current CIP projects and priorities. Stated right now, we're fully utilized. It's based on Council's direction if you want us to start out and make it a priority, then we can make adjustments to put some projects on hold. We'll have to evaluate that because current projects have lapsing fund deadlines and other priorities. Mayor Pro Tem Ly expressed he feels for the residents. Maybe the ultimate goal is to create the safety and slow down of that street of flow through traffic. And that might be hopefully faster. It might still take some time in terms of policies, but it still might be faster than going through this encroaching process. I would also argue that if we start in that process and at some point we're like this is just not going to work or if we get a lot of residents that show up saying this is not what we want and we want this instead, then the Council can always at that point reverse this decision too. My recommendation is that we bring this back to Council; asserted that I don't want this to go through Traffic Commission yet again and delay the residents’ times. Have it come to the Council to evaluate the traffic calming measures that we need to do. My recommendation would be to direct staff to give as aggressive as possible to sustain a slowdown of 25 mph at max. Mayor Dang indicated that he is supportive either way, whatever traffic calming measure there is, whether we use speed bumps as a deterrent. Stated I do recall a good old friend, Brian Lewin, saying that there were a lot of reports of burglaries around that street and the fact that these perpetrators would rob the house. Then two minutes later, they would jump in the car because they knew there was direct access to the freeway to be able to disappear. Opined that was sort of the origin of why they wanted a barrier as opposed to the speed bumps; stating the speed bumps will slow down the vehicle, but crime was the other factor. Mayor Dang stated I am okay with coming back at the next Council meeting; suggested investigating why the neighbors wanted a barrier as opposed to a speed bump or maybe just give us a quick synopsis of how it developed and then we'll decide whether to go ahead at the Council level. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined there's a slight disagreement between what you and I want. I think what you're proposing is give more conversation about this item. I'm saying that perhaps we should just proceed with traffic calming measures. Do we ask staff to do more analysis or do we tell staff to pursue and give us traffic calming measures? Mayor Dang reiterated that Mayor Pro Tem Ly did say it was worthwhile to reach out to those specific individuals that made comments at the Traffic Commission meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Ly agreed, but my concern is we are elected not just to represent that one street, we are elected to represent all of Rosemead. My concern is, as much as I understand there are challenges there, that if we shut down that access way, you're adding traffic to other streets along that area. I'm very hesitant to do any type of a blockade in that area. Reiterated that's why I'm saying I want to pursue traffic calming measures instead, but again, you want more analysis. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 20 of 35 Mayor Dang responded that I was just trying to factor in the residents’ input. I'm open to the idea of speed bumps, flashing lights. Opined yes we're here to make the decision for the greater good of the community, but we do need to factor in the neighborhood’s input and what's best for Rosemead as a whole. Stated if Mayor Pro Tem Ly feels like the blockade might be a hindrance and will create some harm, then we could take a look at that. Mayor Pro Tem Ly referenced slide 5 of the presentation, we don’t have any data but we know these are the disadvantages of which streets will have increased traffic volumes and that it would eliminate westbound I-10 Freeway access to residents in the neighborhood. Director of Public Works Chung stated one of the flaws of this report is that it's not clear on the volume of vehicles, but one key data point that they give us is in the peak hour between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., there's 59 vehicles making a right accessing turn from Olney Street onto the westbound I-10. Mayor Pro Tem Ly replied so that’s 59 vehicles that would need to either take the residential streets or go up Ellis, Marshall, and Temple City. And they could potentially go to Vane and Marybeth. Where is Savannah School and what are school hours? Noted school hours are also roughly around peak hours. Mr. Chung responded Savannah School is on the top left. Mayor Dang stated I'm hoping to take a second look at the traffic flow. Resident Armenta shared that she travels there every morning and there's not big impact for people going eastbound. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated it sounds like Mayor Dang would like to table this item so staff can gather more data. Asked when will staff be able to bring more information back. Director of Public Works Chung replied we can bring this item back to the second meeting in February. Also, to confirm what is the additional information Council is seeking? Mayor Pro Tem Ly recommended that Mayor Dang and any other members of the Council touch base with Mr. Chung offline in the next 24-48 hours to establish what additional data is needed. Council Member Low asked Mr. Chung did the previous analysis include consideration of having the speed bump? Mr. Chung responded it was looked at, but it was not considered because the city does not have a speed hump policy. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 21 of 35 Council Member Low followed up, now when looking at this, can you guys see if having a speed bump can be a viable solution even without us approving that speed hump policy yet? Director of Public Works Chung responded yes, we can. Resident Armenta commented that the purpose is to slow down speed. Closing this down is not going to reduce speed, that means that people are going to travel down Marshall, Ellis Lane in the vicinity, they're going to still go down this street very fast. So again, playing devil's advocate because I've lived there since I was six years old, closing this down would help these residents, but it's not going to slow down the traffic on the rest of the street where we're trying to mitigate. There is an issue of safety, added it will be great to close this off because we do not have sidewalks. Council Member Low responded that's great information. Stated I'm more interested in how we make that whole street as safe as possible, not just that one. Council Member Clark inquired if we're looking at the speed bump policy, do we have to implement one in order to be able to do it on this street or could we make the finding to allow this because of the extenuating circumstances and not bind us to do this on every street. Mayor Pro Tem Ly interjected, I think that it is a policy question which is what the Council needs to answer –would we be willing to have an exception to policy. From what it sounds like by this Council, the answer is yes, we would based off Ms. Low, Mr. Dang, as well as Ms. Clark’s comments. City Attorney Richman advised by saying everyone’s okay it could be misunderstood as changing a policy. Mayor Pro Tem Ly acknowledged City Attorney’s note. Clarified it seems to be favorable conversation on this topic to include the residents, but it also sounds like we can do this concurrently. Is a proposal coming before the Council at some point to adopt speed humps or is it just to consider it? Mr. Chung responded it would be approval to consider developing a policy. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined we might be ahead of the game when we do this for Olney Street, but a policy will catch up eventually if that's what the Council wants to do. Resident Armenta pointed out that there's two lanes on Temple City Boulevard, one to go onto the I-10 and one to make the right. What people are doing is they're cutting to the right lane making a U-turn here, which is the concern of these residents because there's been quite a few incidents there where people are getting into traffic collisions as they're coming down here making the U-turn and then jumping on here bypassing Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 22 of 35 the huge line that is trying to get onto the I-10. Suggested somehow extending this to divert people from making that U-turn. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined that makes sense as we do that on Marshall and Rosemead Boulevard. Director of Public Works Chung stated that was one of the advantages that was listed to eliminate three-point turns onto Olney Street. Mayor Dang thanked Mr. Chung for the presentation. ACTION: Moved by Mayor Pro Tem Ly and seconded by Council Member Low to proceed with aggressive traffic calming measures to include the possibility of speed humps as well as solving this issue of the three-point U-turn along the Olney Street and Temple City Boulevard area. Also to bring back to Council what those aggressive traffic measures would look like to get the speed and safety of that street down to 25 miles per hour. The motion was carried out by the following vote AYES: Clark, Dang, Low, and Ly NOES: None ABSTAIN: Armenta 6. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Discussion of Forming a Subcommittee to Evaluate the Potential as a Charter City Mayor Pro Tem Ly requested the City Council discuss forming a subcommittee to evaluate the potential as a Charter city. CEQA: Not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Recommendation: That the City Council discuss and provide further direction to City staff. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I wanted us to have a conversation to consider the charter city for two main reasons. The first reason is we have seen the authority and power of municipalities, especially under general law, has really shrunk over time. It's becoming much more challenging to follow the mandates that the state has given us. So, when looking at this issue, how do we preserve as much of those rights on the local level and really for the voters of Rosemead as much as possible. The second reason is in conversations with City Attorney Richman about this matter, there was some discussion and debate as to when we move the elections. If we are a general law city, we are bound by either the primary or the general election dates set by the state. If we are a charter city, we have the authority to set our own election date based off what the charter says. City Attorney Richman concurred that was recently clarified in case law with the City of Redondo Beach. Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined I know that there are always concerns with the charter; stated the voters have to agree to the adoption of the charter as we all experienced Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 23 of 35 and learned 15 years ago; pointing out the challenge we had 15 years ago does not exist today because back then the Council and city was incredibly divided. Asserted my recommendation is if we do adopt a charter that we don't put anything in this charter for the people's consideration without all five of us agreeing to it. The idea is that only if we have a unanimous general consent on what is in that charter should be something that then goes before the public. Discussed the potential challenging topic of salaries; commented we know that the City of Bell utilized this as a way to be corrupt. So we can set the salary in our charter at whatever the rate it is, for example, what we're currently getting a salary at and adjust to inflation; noting the charter could state that the Council’s salary can only get adjusted in the future by a vote of the people. Recommended forming a subcommittee if the Council would like to proceed with this item to see how we can set up a charter. Council Member Armenta stated I know that people feel that charters give a lot of power to the Council as opposed to the Council-Manager system. How does having a charter affect that? Emphasized we're not always going to be here on Council, so we need to look to the future and to make sure that the city is protected so that a Council doesn't come in and really try to be Council heavy instead of working with the City Manager. Mayor Pro Tem Ly ascertained so you are in favor of preserving the Council - Manager System we have. The partnerships of the City Manager and that of the Mayor or Council Member are still intact and we can move forward with that. Council Member Armenta asked if the fact that we contract with the Sheriff's Department and only have a ceremonial Chief of Police will be written into the charter. Mayor Pro Tem Ly indicated our Municipal Code already states that we have a Chief of Police and that the appointment of the Chief of Police is made by the City Manager. Council Member Armenta noted during Mayor Pro Tem Ly’s absence this past year for military leave, we looked into that ordinance that was enacted in 1959; pointed out it was written because at the time the city didn’t know if we were going to have our own police department or contract with the Sheriff's Department. The language has since been changed to reflect our contract with the Sheriff’s Department since we do not have a Chief of Police and it is only ceremonial. Mayor Pro Tem Ly inquired what does the revised ordinance state. Council Member Armenta summarized the ordinance states that the City Manager cannot hire, fire, promote or demote the Chief of Police since the city does not have its own police department. If the city had its own Police Department, then yes, the City Manager would be able to hire, fire, promote, or demote the Chief of Police. City Attorney Richman asserted that we removed the term “Chief of Police” from the City Manager's authority over Department Heads because the Chief of Police is not a Department Head; reiterating that the contract is with the Sheriff’s Department. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 24 of 35 Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked how do we control our management of the Sheriff's contract? For example, let’s say I need deputies to patrol a specific street, who gives that order? City Attorney Richman responded you have a contract with the Sheriff’s Department. Mayor Pro Tem Ly clarified the contract says we get these many patrol hours, but it doesn't say they're going to patrol let’s say Bartlett Avenue. City Attorney Richman stated that is determined by the city. Council Member Armenta explained that the Captain from the Temple Sheriff Station decides how he or she is going to implement the Rosemead Team and if that means he needs added patrol, then he pulls from other deputies at Temple Station. City Attorney Richman emphasized the city does not have its own Police Department, so that is why the ordinance removed the reference of the “Chief of Police” from under the City Manager's authority to hire and fire Department Heads; repeated that since we contract for those services, a Chief of Police is not a Department Head in the city, so it was struck from the ordinance, but everything else remains as it was for the contracted services. Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded that I understand why that was removed. Stated my question is who gives the order to move patrol numbers from one street to another? City Attorney Richman answered, “I don't have the contract in front me, but I'm assuming that those are all laid out with the provisions for when those services are provided”. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked Assistant City Manager Bruckner, who oversees the Public Safety Department, to provide insight. Assistant City Manager Bruckner stated if memory serves, I believe the contract states that the City will collaborate with the Sheriff's Department on any changes to deployment. If we have a request to have additional patrols around schools or a residential area, either myself or City Manager Kim makes that request to the Sheriff’s Department and then they respond accordingly. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I think we're moving way beyond the scope on this conversation, so I will reserve it for Council Comments later. Council Member Armenta indicated that no City Manager in any of the contracted cities has the ability to hire or fire their Chief of Police, so if we move forward with this item, then we will tailor the charter to Rosemead specifically. Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented that the charter is like the constitution of the United States, we have a set of laws, the United States Government Code. Same thing, we Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 25 of 35 would still maintain that we would have the charter, which should be pretty broad overall, but it enumerates certain rights that certain people (i.e., the public, residents, or the Council) to have, and then everything else is then delegated to the Municipal Code itself, delegated to resolutions that the Council passes, its Admin Policies, etc. Council Member Armenta asked in the form of government, our Director of Finance sits as our City Treasurer and the City Council appoints the City Clerk. Noted the Cities of Monterey Park and Baldwin Park have an elected City Treasurer and City Clerk. Is having those positions changed to elected something we are looking into? Mayor Pro Tem Ly opined I hope not. We have a choice as a Council to enumerate it into the charter or leave it as the Municipal Code states that those positions are hired or appointed. Reiterated what Ms. Armenta stated that the Director of Finance is the City Treasurer, and the City Council appoints the City Clerk. Council Member Armenta expressed support for forming a subcommittee as I think we need to dive deep to make sure if a charter city is feasible for the City of Rosemead. Mayor Dang echoed that if we move forward, having a subcommittee is important. Concurred with what Mayor Pro Tem Ly that it would be great to pick and choose certain things in the general law that we want to retain and make part of the city charter. Mayor Pro Tem Ly ascertained it sounds like we have two options: 1) The City Attorney can give us a rough draft of a charter city, with bare bones, and then we can begin adding and subtracting to the draft proposal. 2) Consider having a subcommittee depending on how much we trust each other because if it's a subcommittee it will only be two members of the Council, otherwise it’s a Brown Act violation. Council Member Armenta stated I would like to have community input to see what they feel should be included in the charter. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked what is the election that this item has to be on, the primary or the general election or can it be on either? Indicated I know it can't be a special election. City Attorney Richman responded I'd have to look into it, but I think we could probably consolidate with either of those elections as long as we meet certain timeframes. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated that it’s probably a report back to the Council when it's due so that it gives us a timeline idea if we decide to propose a charter to place on the ballot. Opined if we proceed, we are probably looking at the earliest either March 2024 or November 2024 depending on what state law says elections of charters have to be on. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 26 of 35 Council Member Clark commented this conversation started when Mayor Pro Tem Ly suggested moving our elections to November. Acknowledged in the past we preferred our standalone election so that we're not confused with all the other statewide office elections; pointed out that voters won’t focus on the city items since they are on the bottom of the slate. Even though there's a lot of advantages to it, we also must take into consideration the cost of having a special election rather than consolidating with the county to run the election. Mayor Pro Tem Ly indicated I want to create a win-win, meaning to proceed with developing an ordinance to move the elections and to maintain standalone elections, then we'd have to go with charter city. Added there are actual benefits of becoming a charter city because it protects the City of Rosemead and provides sovereignty to Rosemead from the state. Council Member Armenta clarified that a law passed where local elections are on the top of the ballot, so we're not going to be on the bottom where people are going to just forget. Mayor Pro Tem Ly acknowledged that the challenge is still there of fighting against everybody else to get your voice heard because there are a lot of things on the ballot in that election cycle. I proposed moving the election to November just because it's easier to consolidate. Mayor Dang opined I always favor the November election date as it brings out more representation when a lot of people come out to vote. In terms of this one, I know Mayor Pro Tem Ly said that a charter gives us protection against the general law city. Inquired if there is an example that could be shared to illustrate that. Mayor Pro Tem Ly provided the example, the City of Baldwin Park’s charter authorizes the Council to approve and dismiss all Department Heads; explained we can choose to retain the Council-Manager system or alter it. Stated we want to create a charter in place so that if the state ever tries to do anything, we can then either say no, just because it applied to general law, it doesn't apply to us or that we need to have the residents vote on it first before we can do that. Emphasized there is a power that is reserved to a charter city, it means preserving authority, so we can use that flexibility in the future when needed. Council Member Low asked if once we establish the charter but want to make a change, does that change need to be voted on and approved by the public first? Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded if we change the charter itself then yes, the public needs to vote to essentially make an amendment to the charter. However, if the charter says, we're delegating these powers to the City Council and as long as it doesn't violate the charter, then everything can be governed through the Municipal Code or governed through resolutions, etc. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 27 of 35 City Attorney Richman explained you want your charter to be concise, yet broad and not so specific that you're constantly having to go back to the voters to change it. Asserted that you often draft it in a way that recognizes that charter law cities maintain control over municipal affairs. What municipal affairs are changes based on case law and is shrinking but there are still some areas that are still municipal affairs such as public funds, gifts of public funds, etc. You can put in your charter that you believe using funds for economic development purposes is consistent with your existence as a charter law city, giving you in a sense somewhat of redevelopment power. But in general you want to just state that to the extent we have the authority as a charter law city over municipal affairs and we as a city intend to exercise that consistent with whatever the current law is and then continue the rest of those details in your Municipal Code, therefore you don't have to continually go back to the electorate to make any sort changes. Mayor Dang asked if we decide to move forward with the charter, does it have to go to the voters to approve it first. City Attorney Richman affirmed yes, they need to vote on that language. I think the discussion point is when you create a subcommittee, who will create what the draft charter looks like, and then present it back to you as a full Council. Then the Council can look at it, have as many meetings as you want about that language, take public input at that point and then vote to place it on an election. There is another way that you can create a charter where the council votes to create a charter commission and then the voters vote on whether they want to have a charter commission. This process tends to be a little more cumbersome, but the most common way is to develop the language and approve it as a council and then direct that it be placed on a ballot for the electorate to approve. Mayor Dang inquired if character cities are immune to these state bills being pushed down from Sacramento related to zoning and land use. Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded it depends, any amendment to the general law code affects us right now. Explained all the charter does is it preserves anything that affects the general law, it gets moved into the charter side. Now, there are going to be situations where, depending on how the law is passed, we may still be bound by mandates, zoning rules, etc. If it affects the general law component, then it would no longer affect us if we had a charter. Mayor Dang asked if everything will be seamless in terms of the funding that we get from the state. City Attorney Richman responded I cannot answer that question, but my assumption is if we were to use certain funds and they have obligations on them, it does not matter what our charter says. It’s the state’s money to give or not give. Reiterated we don’t want to put too many prohibitions in the charter because if we are applying for a grant and it requires us to do something, but our charter prohibits it, then it might make it difficult to get funding. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 28 of 35 Mayor Dang stated I'm hearing a lot of the positives, but I also want to see if there are negatives to the charter. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated regarding the negatives, the example provided earlier was how the City of Bell abused the charter city system. Echoed what Council Member Armenta said that it comes down to whether you have bad actors on the Council and whether they would lie to the public to get a charter approved. Now, there are ways to control that. We have experience of what Bell did and we could put salary limitations and say that the Council can no longer change their own salaries but rather only the public can make those changes. City Attorney Richman added one thing you can even state is that you as a Council determine that you'll just follow the state law on whatever the general law says on salaries. Council Member Armenta asked if Council could get a list of all the charter cities in the San Gabriel Valley to compare. It's great to hear from other cities that have already gone through the process. Council Member Clark inquired if we wanted to change the election to November of even years, could we do so without becoming a charter city. City Attorney Richman responded that is something that's permitted by general law cities. Explained what you cannot do is not be on either the general election in November or the statewide. So that's what the charter authority gives you. Council Member Clark stated as it stands now, we are in June for the primary and then in March; noting Mayor Dang and Council Member Low will be up in the presidential election in March of 2024. City Attorney Richman pointed out so in presidential years it's earlier than in non- presidential elections. Council Member Clark opined it almost depends on the Council that are affected the most, whether they would want to make a change to see whether they would want to go to a standalone election or move to November or keep it in March and June. City Attorney Richman asserted that I would recommend not basing the decision off your own personal running for election. Council Member Low opined I'm not looking at how it impacts mine or anyone else's election. I want to look at what really makes sense. Agreed with Mayor Pro Tem Ly that we are losing a lot of city control so I can see going to charter city means having less of that constraint by the state and more control for the city. At the same time, I am concerned that we need to do the charter correctly; reiterating this Council is not going to be here forever so the language is important to make sure it is written so that no one will be able to abuse the power. Emphasized that should be our consideration Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 29 of 35 of whether we should become a charter city, not necessarily when our election is. To me, it doesn't matter whether it's in March, June, November. We need to consider what is best for the city in the next years. If having the charter gives the city better control and if we can do it right, then I think that's something we should look at. Mayor Pro Tem Ly indicated support for Council Member Armenta’s proposal to see which other cities in the San Gabriel Valley are charter cities. Asked how much time is needed to complete this survey? City Attorney Richman stated I can report back with that at the next Council meeting. Mayor Pro Tem Ly recommended that we instruct staff to give us more information regarding what cities in the San Gabriel Valley have charters and then report back to us in two weeks. This way we can have further discussion when additional information is provided and then decide at the next Council meeting. B. Rosemead Boulevard Relinquishment Discussion Mayor Pro Tem Ly requested the City Council discuss the Caltrans relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard to the City of Rosemead. Recommendation: That the City Council discuss and provide further direction to City staff and find the proposed action is not defined as a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I think this Council would have to agree that things on Rosemead Boulevard after 18 years have not gotten better. We are still seeing significant challenges with the quality-of-life issue along that corridor. I'm even more concerned now with the 710 connector not happening, or at least not happening within our lifetimes. Unfortunately, Rosemead Boulevard is the major arterial that we don't control, so we don't have the ability to act on our own. I'm not saying that we necessarily have to request a relinquishment and get it, but we need to have that conversation, because after 18 years, nothing good has happened along that street. I do want us to consider relinquishment and I think that needs to be an option in our toolbox. What I would actually request from staff, and this might require a vote of the Council because of the magnitude of it, but I would request that we look at what those traffic counts are along Rosemead Boulevard and how they have changed over time and where they're projected to go in the next 20 years, etc. Emphasized it's only going to get worse and if we don't make major improvements, then we're only going to lower the quality of life for our residents along that whole corridor. Mayor Dang opened the Public Comment period. City Clerk Henandez read the following Public Comment received via phone from Brian Lewin. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 30 of 35 “Dear Mayor and City Council, I'm in support of the relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard. Personally, I believe this should have been done a long time ago when it was first proposed. When you drive all along Rosemead Boulevard, you see the missed opportunities. Driving on Rosemead Boulevard from one city's improvements to the City of Rosemead side on Rosemead Boulevard, it is very noticeable. Although it will take funding to improve Rosemead Boulevard, it will be worth it. I am in support of the relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard. Thank you.” Mayor Dang closed the Public Comment period, there being no further comments. Council Member Armenta shared through my day job, I was able to sit on these meetings with South El Monte and Caltrans. So I urged staff to contact South El Monte to share the difficulties that they've encountered or come up with when dealing with Caltrans and the relinquishment of Rosemead Boulevard to South El Monte. There's a certain amount of money that is given to cities for that relinquishment. Nothing has changed in the 10 years and that is why South El Monte was looking to having Rosemead Boulevard relinquished back to them. But there's a lot of factors. I know that many times Temple City is compared to Rosemead because they had Rosemead relinquished back to them, but they started way before that whole project even began. They were able to acquire 20 million dollars not all from relinquishment they've had other funding where they were able to do that. Opined I'm not sure we're going to ever be able to get those 20 million dollars, especially now that we had all this money and all a sudden we're in the deficit. We just really need to look into what it takes or what it entails to have Rosemead Boulevard relinquished back to Rosemead. We are now going to be Liable for any upgrades, any traffic condition. Council Member Clark concurred with Council Member Armenta that we need more information. Stated I don't know if you read my letter on December 11th when this first came up, but when this was originally proposed, there was a lot of pushbacks. The question I have is, if it's so great to be able to have control of it, why would Caltrans want to get rid of it? There are so many issues that we would then be responsible for, including extensive liability for lawsuits potentially for damages due to any negligence causing damage. In addition, Rosemead would be responsible for fixing sidewalks, bike lanes, keeping storm drains unclogged, picking up garbage, watering plants in the medians, etc. Any reimbursement for necessary repairs or rehabilitation of the highway that Caltrans did not pay for would be required to be paid by the city. Mayor Pro Tem Ly indicated that we have asked them to let us have the opportunity to fix the median so we can grow trees and whatnot to kind of continue what the type of city was doing. We have asked them to help work with us on synchronization. These are things that we have been asking for 18 years and we haven't gotten from Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 31 of 35 them. I don't think it's great that we take over Rosemead Boulevard and I understand that it's additional work, but at least I know that our city staff and our team can do a better job than Caltrans can. Council Member Clark commented on the issue about the bike lanes as you know I'm very passionate about protected bike lanes. I lost a friend on a bicycle years ago and it's gotten much worse with the crazy drivers. Opined just painting a stripe gives a false sense of security. Shared that she was at the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park on Saturday, noting she was on stage with 15 elected officials, which was course 10 hours before the tragedy occurred. Indicated as we were leaving the stage, she was able to speak with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor; suggested asking our Supervisor for assistance with Caltrans. Council Member Clark questioned if we have ever asked Caltrans to do all those things Mayor Pro Tem Ly mentioned. Mayor Pro Tem Ly responded yes, we did when Chris Macarello was the Director of Public Works. This has been going on for 18 years. Just today I walked up Rosemead Boulevard to go to Rosemead Park because I wanted to check out that area; pointed out the amount of cars that were going through that area was just so extreme and it's only going to get worse. Emphasized I don't see how 18 years from now things are going to improve unless we do something now where we take sovereignty in some fashion. Council Member Low opined it's too early for us to argue one way or the other. I think we don't have enough data, for instance how much does it cost to fix Rosemead Boulevard? How much does it cost to maintain it? In general, just what's the cost? And sure, how much can we get from Caltrans? Maybe 18 years ago we were able to get more money and now it's less. How much less are we talking about? I think we need all that type of information in order for us to discuss whether we should or we shouldn't do it. I think we also have to think If we don't do anything, what will Rosemead Boulevard look like 20 years from now. I think that's something that we should consider as well. Mayor Dang agreed that we need data and metrics. Opined Caltrans is actually holding three cities hostage. Commented that I hate to do it on a public stage, but I wonder if the Senator might be able to have some flex and get Caltrans at the table to get them to fix it. I don't think any of the local cities have enough money to sort of take care of it unless we get help from the Senator or Supervisor. Council Member Armenta asserted that unfortunately, because Caltrans is a state agency, there's nothing that requires them to fix it. They were required to clean the on-ramps and off-ramps twice a year. They calculate labor costs, building costs, all that. The senator sits on the Transportation Committee, and I reminded them that the Senator will either increase or decrease your funding and they didn't care. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated we have a choice as a Council. We can create traffic flow, create situations where quality of life is improved upon, safety for residents, safety for people walking, riding bikes, etc., or we take control of Rosemead Boulevard at whatever number that Caltrans is willing to give us at, but at least we would have Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 32 of 35 control. At that point we could do something about it, find grant money and ensure it is accounted correctly for within our budget. Council Member Low stated what I don't want is if the city goes broke because fixing Rosemead Boulevard costs us too much money. Mayor Pro Tel Ly agreed at the end of the day, there needs to be some sort of comprehensive look. I think there are other mechanisms in which we can create that comprehensive fix, either through COG or through a JPA or just through agreements with the other cities. Council Member Armenta what if we look into partnering with South El Monte if they are still interested. I think the issue was just as Council Member Low indicated it was the cost and if it will bankrupt their city because their city is much smaller than ours. Council Member Low stated I'm also interested in knowing what Temple City did. How much money did they get and how much money did they spend upgrading their section of Rosemead Boulevard. Council Member Armenta also inquired how long it took Temple City to capture that funding and what type of funding they had. Mayor Pro Tem Ly reiterated that’s why the number Caltrans gives us is not as important because it's always been on us to find the other sources of funding whether we're tapping into our own specialized funding like our share of measure R, or measure M. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated we can't do any of that if Caltrans is the sovereign on Rosemead Boulevard. We can only do that if we're sovereign. I agree with Councilmember Low that we need to start off with a study. However, I wanted to make sure we touched this issue because I do think we're probably going to head in that direction. Mayor Dang asked if staff could use this as a basis point to get a guesstimate. Mayor Pro Tem Ly commented I want to see what the count or the impact of what it will looks like now in terms of traffic use and then what we think it looks like 20 years from now based off of planning projections. Council Member Armenta reiterated that a good place to start is with South El Monte because they are doing today's figures. Mayor Pro Tem Ly asked what our budget for 2022 was and how much of that was funded by CIP. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 33 of 35 Director of Finance Chua responded the 2022 total operating budget is about 50 million, which includes 20 million dollars funded by CIP. Council Member Armenta highlighted let’s remember that Rosemead Boulevard, regardless if it's relinquished or not, is still a state highway, so we would get transportation funding from the federal government. Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated for me, saying that 18 million dollars to completely repurpose and fix Rosemead Boulevard is a very doable number. It sounds like a lot, but that's assuming we do everything all at once. If we phase it out, if Council assumes risk and says we do these things but not these things, things like that, we create developer impact fees, we create other funding sources, closing out 18 million, 20 million, 25 million is not an insurmountable number. But again, none of this can happen if Caltrans still has control of Rosemead Boulevard. Council Member Clark stated it's apples and oranges to say that our streets, we're keeping them up; highlighted that this is a state highway and even if we fixed it up for that many million dollars, which I don’t agree with, but you still have to factor in the liability issues that we're taking in because it's such a heavily trafficked state highway that you can't estimate what those are. Council Member Low stated she would like to know the cost of maintenance and fixing it up, as well as what are some of the funding opportunities. Council Member Armenta echoed Council Member Low’s requested information. Mayor Dang directed staff to use this as a basis point and to factor in current fees, engineering costs and whatnot to provide Council a fair guesstimate to be able to make our decision. C. Council Comments Council Member Low wished everyone a Happy Lunar New Year! Commented that it was very unfortunate that we had that mass shooting over in Monterey Park. Today I did attend the candlelight visual, so it was very shocking that happened so close to home. We would hear like mass shooting oftentimes that seem so far away, but at this time, it was our next door neighbor. Expressed she feels very sad and requested to adjourn tonight’s meeting in memory of those 11 victims. Encouraged everyone to be nice to each other, help your loved ones because you never know what someone is going through. Asked Director of Parks and Recreation about our Moon Festival as I was seeing a lot of other cities having their Lunar New Year Festival. Director of Parks and Recreation Boecking responded we do have a tentative date, that he does not know off the top of his head. We are working on coordinating the event. Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 34 of 35 Mayor Pro Tem Ly stated I want to echo everything that Council Member Low said; the Lunar New Year Festival should have been a very joyous occasion, celebrating the new year and celebrating what a new year can bring. Our heart just breaks for all the lives that were lost so suddenly and for everyone affected by that tragedy. I think that it's important for all of us, as a city, to support the City of Monterey Park. Let’s really make sure that we are doing our best to call our friends and family more often just to make sure we're all okay. Mr. Ly stated on a more business related item, I do want to place for discussion the Chief of Police position at the next Council meeting; shared he had a conversation with the Captain and Assistant City Manager Bruckner today to ensure our sheriff’s contract is flowing; emphasized there is a clear delineated line of communication and cooperation with the city and the Sheriff’s Department to ensure we are able to handle the public safety of our residents. Council Member Clark agreed with what was said about the closing in memory of those tragic deaths. Expressed disbelief this happened; stated she walked right by that dance studio on Saturday, then hours later the tragedy occurred. Shared in scoping out the festival, Ray Jan from Rosemead Chamber of Commerce asked if we would be bringing back the Moon Festival as well. So, I'm glad to hear that our Moon Festival is in the works because I think it's very important that we continue to celebrate. Council Member Armenta stated I can't reiterate enough what my colleagues have said, my deepest condolences to the families, to all those affected, the City of Monterey Park, but also the first responders, the law enforcement, police officers that actually went in and saw firsthand the devastation that occurred. It is my understanding that it was two young Police Officers that had only been on the force for a couple of months when they walked into this. Commented that one thing that the API community is stressing that let's not jump to conclusions until the investigation has been conducted because they do not want to take away the fact that if this is a hate crime, know that people from that same ethnicity can also do the hate crime. So, it's not just because it could be from a different ethnicity. Hate crime is a hate crime regardless of what nationality you are. They want to make sure that is still the focus. Emphasized we really need to make sure that we're there to support our neighboring city, Monterey Park, and the senator is doing everything she can to provide services for them in the state capital. I will provide the names of those who lost their lives so that when our Mayor adjourns tonight’s meeting, he can say their names out loud to be remembered. Council Member Armenta shared at the last council meeting on January the 10th I was up in Sacramento with California Contract Cities Association urging the members that we met with that we want local control. Stated it was a really great conference called “The Slot”, so it's a Sacramento Legislative Tour. In lieu of this tragedy, I do want to wish everybody a Happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit, and many blessings for 2023. Thank you. Mayor Dang stated speaking of local control, I think there was a state assembly bill that says you could build apartment developments in the commercial zone if the local jurisdiction doesn't have that in their zoning code. So, if the state is actually releasing that type of zoning use, I think it's worthwhile for us, the city, to allow Rosemead City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of January 24, 2023 Page 35 of 35 apartments mixed use in the commercial zone to sort of mimic the state's trajectory goals. The reason why I'm bringing this up is because downtown a lot of these high-rise office buildings are being purchased by apartment developers. They're converting these high-rise offices into apartments to try and meet the housing inventory. I would like to agendize that item to look at allowing apartments mixed- use in the commercial zone. Council Member Armenta added one thing that I've also spoke to many of the members is that there is not a component of affordable housing in any of these housing bills. So eventually what we're going to have is all these vacant condos, units, because people cannot afford them and people are moving out of the state. That's one thing that I'm going to continue to work on to make sure that at least some type of component is embedded in these housing bills. If they're going to make the cities build high-rises or duplexes They have to give the cities control on how many units are able to be affordable housing. Mayor Dang expressed his thoughts from the tragic event. The City of Monterey Park, there was 11 victims and it happened in Monterey Park, but I really feel the impact. We have a lot of residents and friends and family that work, frequently visit Monterey Park, so Monterey Park is just an extension of Rosemead. I’d like to share my prayers and God speed the healing process. I do want to echo one thing and just like after September 11th when there was a tragedy, we were reminded not to live in fear. We have to be vigilant, we have to be aware of our surroundings and report things that are sort of out of the norm. But again, we shouldn't have to jump into conclusion and I just want to encourage everyone to try and return to normal, don't sort of live sheltered in place. It helps the community and everyone to mentally heal in that respect. 6. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Dang adjourned the meeting at 11:05 p.m., in memory of the victims of Monterey Park tragedy: Mai Nam, 65. Zhu Guan Yu, Hong Jiang, 62. Chia Yao, 76. Wen Yu, Lillian Lee, 63, Mui Eung, 67, Yu Cao, 72, Valentino Alvero, 68, Ming Ma, 72, and Diane Tom, 70. The next City Council meeting will take place on February 14, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. in the Rosemead City Hall Council Chamber. ________________________________ Ericka Hernandez, City Clerk APPROVED: _____________________________ Margaret Clark, Mayor