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CC - 12-13-05C -0 -R -R -E -C -T -E -D ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL ROSEMEAD HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005, 7:02 P.M. REPORTED BY: DAWN M. DAVILA, CSR NO. 8383 ATTACHMENT G Younger Reporting Services 3890 Eleventh Street Riverside, CA 92501 Phone (951) 276-1333 0 Fax (951) 276-0566 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL: MAYOR JAY IMPERIAL MAYOR PRO TEM GARY TAYLOR COUNCILMEMBER JOHN NUNEZ COUNCILMEMBER MARGARET CLARK COUNCILMEMBER JOHN TRAN CITY STAFF: NINA CASTRUITA, CITY CLERK PETER WALLIN, CITY ATTORNEY LISA KRANITZ, DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY BILL CROWE, CITY MANAGER KEN RUKAVINA, CITY ENGINEER BRAD JOHNSON, PLANNING DIRECTOR SHERI BERMEJO, ASSISTANT PLANNER CHARLES RAY, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER ROSS S. GELLER, PRINCIPAL APPLIED PLANNING PUBLIC SPEAKERS: LARRY BEVINGTON JULIE GENTRY JUDY CHU MARTHA MANRIQUEZ KEN PIKE JAMES FLOURNOY YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PUBLIC SPEAKERS (CONTINUED): POLLY LOW STEVEN LY RON GAY NOLAN NG JACK ADKINS ROSEMARY SANDSBURY J.P. DESAI BOB BRUESCH VICTOR RUIZ HENRY LO JULIA WANG PAUL SAITO ALEJANDRO GANDARA ESTELLE HOLTZ PEGGY BAUMANN MR. GARRALA STEVEN LAGUNA PATRICIA MEDINA CELIA NISHIMURA MARLENE SHINEN YUKI FUKUMOTO BRIAN LEWIN MARIA GODOY BEN LIN YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 PUBLIC SPEAKERS (CONTINUED): JIM CLOUET LINDA KILPATRICK JOAN HUNTER ROSIE LICERIO JOHN DAVIDSON MARY ELLEN DUNDAS JEAN HALL FRED HERRERA STUART YORK MARIBEL MARTINEZ JEFF LEWIN CORY BRIGGS TODD KUNIOKA DAVID LESTER ISABEL SAHAGUN EDWARD AVATEFI CAROLINE KUNIOKA YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2005 ROSEMEAD, CA MAYOR IMPERIAL: We'll start the public hearing order of business. Call the Adjourned Regular Meeting of the City Council meeting to order. We'll have a pledge of the flag by Councilman Nunez, and the invocation by Mayor Pro Tem Taylor. Would you please stand. (Pledge and prayer.) MAYOR IMPERIAL: Roll call by the City Clerk. THE CLERK: Commissioner Clark? COMMISSIONER CLARK: Here. THE CLERK: Commissioner Nunez. COMMISSIONER NUNEZ: Here. THE CLERK: Commissioner Tran. COMMISSIONER IRAN: Here. THE CLERK: Vice Chairman Taylor. VICE CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Here. THE CLERK: Chairman Imperial. CHAIRMAN IMPERIAL: Here. Call the Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Community Development Commission to order. Chairman Imperial is requesting this roll call of officers and commissioned -- we've already had that, Roll call of officers commissioned. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Can you hear me? THE CLERK: Commissioner Clark. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Here. THE CLERK: Commissioner Nunez. COMMISSIONER NUNEZ: Here. THE CLERK: Commissioner Tran. COMMISSIONER TRAN: Here. THE CLERK: Vice Chairman Taylor. VICE CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Here. THE CLERK: Chairman Imperial. CHAIRMAN IMPERIAL: Here. Explanation of public hearing procedures and order of presentation. Peter Wallin. MR. WALLIN: Yes. We've passed out public hearing rules for this particular hearing for everybody. There should be enough for everybody to have one. We are -- our procedure here is, first, we have a Staff report of the issues. And following that, members of the public can speak. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. Can't hear you. Speak up. MR. WALLIN: Can you me here now? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yes. MAYOR IMPERIAL: They can hear you. MR. WALLIN: We have made public hearing rules YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 a E E 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for this hearing available, and they are posted where everybody should be able to get a copy of them. Z will quickly summarize them. The public hearing itself will take place after the Staff report has been presented and the Council has had an opportunity to ask questions of Staff regarding the Staff's report. Anybody who wishes to speak, we ask that you fill out request -to -speak cards. And when you're speaking, we ask you to address the Council as a whole, and not address the audience. We're here to have the Council consider your comments, and that's the way we wish to run it. Nina, hold up a request -to -speak card so everybody can see what they look like. We're going to take the speakers in the order that they're received. We have three people out there collecting the request -to -speak cards, and each one of them sorts them in priority. We have three boxes up here from each one of the people who are collecting them. And we will take one from Box "A," one from Box "B," one from Box "C." And so it's first come, first serve. And that's the way it's going to be run. We will be limiting comments to three minutes. And Sheri is going to ring the timer so you can hear what it sounds like when you run out of time. Sheri. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Timer beeps.) MR. WALLIN: Now, we will extend the time of speakers responding to the questions they're presenting. But in the interest of time and efficiency, we ask everybody to confine their comments to the question under debate. And the question under debate at this particular hearing is approving an EIR with a revised alternative site analysis. And I'll get into that in more detail later. I'm going to ask that the audience maintain decorum and allow people -- whether you agree with them or not, allow them to make their presentation to the Council. Thank you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: -= review of the project design alternative, environmental process, the EIR document and procedures. Ross Geller. MR. WALLIN: Okay. Let me explain the purpose of this hearing. To do that, let me put on my glasses. In September of last year, an environmental impact report was prepared for the Wal-Mart project. That was used for a general development agreement, general plan amendment -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Louder. We can't hear you. You need to speak up. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. Got your message. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 E 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. WALLIN:- In September 2004, an environmental impact report was prepared and an application was submitted for the Wal-Mart development. Those environmental documents were used -- a general plan amendment changing the land use designation from office/light industrial to commercial, a tentative map, and conditional use permits. The City Council certified the EIR in September of 2004. A lawsuit was filed by Save Our Community, challenging the adequacy of the EIR. After a hearing, the Court found the EIR was inadequate in two respects. It determined there was an insufficient analysis of relating to a 24-hour operation. And it also ruled that because the EIR itself failed to say there were no alternate sites, that we would have to recirculate that portion of the EIR and then rewrite and do the alternate site analysis, with the EIR itself actually stating that there were no alternate sites. The Court indicated that the EIR was inadequate only with regard to those two matters. And in all other respects, such as traffic analysis, earthquake analysis, seismic analysis, it was a valid document and met the requirements of law. So the issue of the judgment written mandated to revise the EIR and, particularly, the alternate site analysis. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 We prepared a revised alternative site analysis and circulated public review from September 26th to November 10th. We received changes on it. We did not make any changes with respect to the 24-hour operation. Because subsequent to the Court's decision, Wal-Mart provided us with a covenant that has now been recorded against the property which prohibits a 24-hour operation, unless subsequent environmental review is approved -- so they would have to go through this same type of analysis if they ever decided they want it to be open -- be anything other than a curfew store. Now, in accordance with CEQA, we circulate and invite comments only on the portion of the EIR which deals with alternative sites. The balances of the EIR have been approved by the Court, unless we have not really invited comments on that particular -- the other phases of the.EIR. And we askthatthat comment really be limited to alternative site as much as possible. I expect we'll get other comments, but the stuff that we really believe is relevant is the alternative sites analysis. And that provides the legal background for this hearing. And I guess we're ready now for the discussion of the actual alternative site analysis. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Any questions from the City YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Council? MR. GELLER: Mr. Mayor, Members of the Council, my name is Ross Geller. I am the Principal of Applied Planning. We prepared not only the draft EIR, the original draft EIR, but the final EIR. And we were involved in responding to the Court's comments as it relates to the revised EIR that's before you this evening. The revised EIR, as Mr. Wallin had mentioned, really focused on two specific areas. One being the analysis of the potential alternative site, and the other issue that was to be addressed was the 24-hour operation. And as Mr. Wallin mentioned, the Applicant has withdrawn their request for a 24-hour operation, and a covenant has been recorded on the property. So it's no longer relevant to the issue we're talking about this evening. The revised EIR document that is before you includes the alternative analysis, the conditions of approval, and the comments that were received during the public review period and the responses to those comments. And those are included in the package that was provided to the Council this evening. When preparing an alternative analysis, CEQA provides you with some guidance. And the key question YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 ff= 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 in the alternative location analysis is will the alternative location avoid or substantially reduce the significant impacts that were identified in the EIR document. As the Council remembers, in the draft EIR, the original draft EIR, there was really three issues of concern that were considered significant to the Council that the Council considered in their review of the project. One was traffic. And traffic specific to the mainline freeway of the SR 60 Freeway. All other traffic concerns were found to be less than significant. In terms of air quality, the project exceeded the threshold of significance, as determined in the draft environmental impact report, in the areas of temporary -construction -related impacts during construction on the site, and then operational cumulative impacts from cars coming and leaving the project site and visiting the retail component. And then, finally, the third area that was found to be significant was the area of noise during construction. The project was going to exceed the threshold of significance as it related to the draft EIR. Again, these were the determining factors that were the key that we looked at when we looked at alternative sites in the revised EIR to see if the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 alternative locations would reduce -- significantly reduce these identified impacts. CEQA also provides some guidance with feasibility. When you're looking at alternative sites, it's important that the sites that you pick are feasible to accommodate the proposed project. And in looking at feasibility, CEQA tells you to look at site suitability. Is the site big enough? Is the site flat? Can it accommodate the type of project that you're looking at possibly relocating? Economic viability. Is it in the same market? Would it provide for the type of use that's being considered in the draft EIR? Infrastructure. Is there infrastructure in the area to support the relocated alternative? General plan consistency. Does the site have a direct designation to accommodate the relocation? And then, of course, jurisdictional boundaries. Is it in the same community? Does it address the objectives we set out to target? And in considering the objectives, we established a minimum requirement for this type of project. And as you know, this is a Wal-Mart super center project. The project consisted of a 230,000 -square -foot retail store with accompanying YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 parking, site improvements and street improvements to go with it, as well as two restaurant pads, as part of the original project. And it's interesting to know that when reviewing the original project, this Council already selected the project design alternative when reviewing the project, and the design alternative of the project that we reviewed, that was approved by the City Council. In terms of the minimum requirements, we looked at a site that has to be approximately 18 acres in size, and it had to be a flat site or a rectangular site with at least one minimum dimension of 600 feet. And that has to do with the ability to accommodate a super center of a 230,000 -square -foot store. You need some minimum requirements to get a box that big on a piece of property. So we established that as a minimum requirement in terms of trying to locate or identify our alternative site. CEQA also provides some guidance as it relates to the rule of reason. The purpose of the alternative analysis is to provide a reasoned choice. The exercise tonight is to provide the Council with a reasoned choice in terms of the implications of the decision to be made. And the feasibility to obtain the basic objectives of the project need to be met when you look at alternative YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 14 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 sites. And as the Council remembers, going back to the draft EIR, there were five objectives that were set forth as part of the EIR process. And those objectives come back as we look at alternative sites, to see if those sites actually accommodate the objective that was set forth way back when the process started. And the project objectives that were first laid out were to create a new mix of retail commercial uses responsive to the city and the reasonable markets. To provide retail and commercial uses to serve the needs of the residents in the surrounding communities. To increase the economic benefits to the city by providing a variety of tax -generating uses on this site and through job creation. And to provide retail/commercial development compatible with city land uses. And to provide development consistent with the City's plans and policies. In terms of the overall process, the Council needs to consider the fact that in the -- with the addition of the sites that we looked at in terms of the revised EIR, that the draft EIR actually looked at nine separate alternatives to the project. So with the inclusion of this revision this evening, the draft EIR process -- environmental process has looked at a total YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 of 12 separate alternatives to the actual project before US. And as a matter of fact, as I mentioned before, one of the alternatives was selected. And that was the alternative that removed the gas station from the project site and removed some of the out pads as part of -- along Walnut Grove Road. Zn discussing our minimum requirements and talking with City Staff, we identified three possible sites within the community that .could possibly accommodate a project of this scale. And again, understanding that Rosemead is an urban environment, it's a built -out environment, so there weren't a lot of properties that were readily available to look at alternative sites. But we did look at three specific sites, including the L.A.. Dealer Auction site, the redevelopment area that the City of Rosemead has established at Temple City and Valley Boulevard, and then the possible site at the Robinsons -May store within the Montebello Town Center. And what I would like to do, Mr. Mayor, is briefly go through the analysis that was included in the revised EIR as it relates to each of these three alternative sites that were looked at in the document. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 As I mentioned, alternative site number one is the L.A. Auto Auction site. The property is about 15 acres, so it's a little shy of the minimum requirements of 18 that we set out as part of the alternative analysis to accommodate the project. There are some additional residential, both single-family and multi -family and mobile home properties, that are in the vicinity that actually could be added to the L.A. Auto Auction site proper, and you could probably come up with a site of about 19 acres. So from a physical standpoint, the L.A. Auction site could accommodate this type of project. But then, again, we go back to the environmental issues, the significant issues, and we look to see if some of those issues could be reduced by relocating the project to this site. And as we look at that -- and I also want to mention that to actually accommodate this site, to put the 19 together, there would be extensive relocation of people that live there, residents in the area that live in the single-family homes, multi -family homes, and the mobile home park in the area. So that was an issue that we looked at. In terms of the impact site mentioned before that we want to significantly reduce as part .of relocating this site, construction impacts would be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 about the same as the proposed project. Short-term noise. Anytime there is construction on the site, would be similar to what we would be experiencing on the project site. And the air quality impacts, both short term in terms of the grading that goes on on the site to prepare the site, would be equal to, if not greater, based on the fact that the L.A. Auction site has existing buildings and facilities on it that would have to be demolished to actually accommodate a retail project there. So the point is that the air quality, both short term -- the short-term construction air quality impact would not be reduced. And then we look at the long-term cumulative air quality and the operational air quality, based on the fact that a retail store would be on the site versus the L.A. Auction. And, in fact, those air quality impacts would remain about the same, since you would be just relocating those trips from the project site to this site. So there would be no reduction in impact as it relates to that. And then, of course, we get back to the traffic impact. As I mentioned, there was an impact that was identified as part of the project, and it affected the mainline of the freeway. And pursuant to Caltrans direction, we used, as the threshold of significance in YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the draft EIR, any additional traffic, even one vehicle, on the mainline is considered significant, based on the fact that the SR 60 was at or over capacity today. And we take that same criteria and apply it to this site, we would add at least one car to the I-10 Freeway. And so, therefore, we came to the conclusion that, no, you would not reduce the impacts on any Caltrans facility if the threshold of significance, as it stands in the draft EIR, is the addition of one car. So in recapping, there is no -- the use of the L.A. Auction site would not result in any substantial reduction in the impacts that were identified for the project; air quality, noise, and the freeway impacts. And, in fact, use of this project would probably be infeasible due to property acquisition and assembly that would be required to put a site together of sufficient size. And the fact that to accommodate the site and get it to the size we need, there would be significant displacement of homes and businesses to actually assemble a property that big. And, finally, and most important, is that I think the City received a letter within the last few days from the owner of the property stating, emphatically, that the property is not for sale, and they're not interested at all in discussing that site be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 used for anything but what they use it for today. So with that, that site was considered infeasible as an alternative. The second alternative site that we looked at was the City's redevelopment project area located at Valley -- Temple City and Valley Boulevard. The redevelopment site is about four acres in size. And with the relocation of existing businesses, as..shown in the aerial, you could probably get that site up to about seven -and -a -half acres. And if it was feasible to cover the wash and actually use part of the wash for surface parking, the site could possibly get out to about eight -and -a -half acres. So it's about 10 acres shy of our minimum requirements. And so for that reason and the fact that as with the alternative number one, if you did develop on that site -- well, you couldn't develop on the site. But if you did, you would still have the construction -laid impacts as identified in the document. The air quality impacts, construction impacts would be about the same to accommodate a property of that size. And if you did get a retail project, the traffic would be about the same as it is on the project site. And finally, with the one additional car on the threshold as the threshold of significance for a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 mainline freeway facility, we wouldn't reduce those impacts as well. So the site's too small, and none of the impacts would be significantly reduced. So site number two was determined to be infeasible. The final site that was looked at was the existing Robinsons -May property. Robinsons -May, which is the eastern anchor of the -Montebello Town Center. And that came as an alternative site based on the recent merger of the retail stores, the competitor and the May store, and the possibility that that site might become available or vacant as an anchor to the mall. We figured that it's worth investigating in terms of a possibility of using that site. The existing Robinsons -May store is about 140,000 square feet as it exists today. And again, the project that we're talking about is a 230;000 -square -foot building. So some configuration would have to occur to accommodate a project of this scale on that site. And then -- and as was noted in some of the comments, Wal-Mart has done two-story projects in the past, but never a super center store of this size and magnitude. And quite frankly, from an operational standpoint, it's been determined to be infeasible. So from a site -sizing standpoint and from a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 retail compatibility standpoint of whether a general retail and a grocery store is a compatible mix for the San Gabriel Valley's premiere retail mall, the site was considered infeasible. And as you go and look at the environmental impact, as we did in great detail in the revised EIR, the same issues come up. That if you built a store of this magnitude on that site, you would have the same short-term construction -level impacts, and possibly more, based on the fact that significant demolition would need to occur to accommodate this type of project on that particular piece of property. Short-term noise impacts, although they were moved from residences, since they're in a mall environment, and that is acknowledged in the document, they still exceed the threshold of significance as determined in the draft EIR and, therefore, would still be significant -- considered significant. And therefore, it wouldn't be a reduction in those impacts. And for that reason, alternative number three was deemed infeasible. Just some general comments and responses based on the fact that -- based on the comments that were received as part of the public review period. The public review process, several commenters reiterated issues that were dealt with in the draft EIR, in the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 PA 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 final EIR. And, as Mr. Wallin pointed cut in his presentation, the Court has found, as part of their review and direction to prepare the revised EIR, that issues such as traffic, lighting, glare, aesthetics, urban decay and economics, earthquake and seismic issues, and runoff and drainage were adequately addressed in that draft EIR, and no further analysis was necessary. To the point we tried responding to commenters' comments to direct them to the appropriate sections within the draft and final EIR where those issues were discussed in great detail. But in terms of the revised EIR, the focus was on the alternative sites. There was a number of comments that related to the Montebello Town Center and use of the Robinsons -May store. And as I just went through the analysis of alternative number three, the project has been considered infeasible.. It's unavailable, and there is a compatibility issue with a general retailer grocery super center as an anchor in the San Gabriel Valley's premiere mall location. Several commenters discussed alternative designs. And as I mentioned, some people had some thoughts about going with a two-story design, a three-story design, tuck -under parking. And I should have mentioned this as part of my introductory comments, 23 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 but CEQA provides some guidance as it relates to alternative locations. The task in determining and preparing alternative location analysis is truly to take the project, as proposed, and try to find a site to accommodate it. And CEQA is real clear. CEQA does not require that an EIR consider multiple combinations of the project -- within the alternative analysis. Only that a reasonable range of alternatives be considered. And as I mentioned with the inclusion of these three alternative sites, this environmental process addresses 12, arguably 13, alternatives to the proposed project. And, in fact, the project design alternative was the project that this Council addressed. Finally, some of the commenters provided some thoughts and comments as it relates to other sites that possibly could accommodate this project. All of those sites and responses are included within the revised EIR. They were all found to have flaws. And the Council has that information available to them for their review. Finally, in summary, none of the alternatives that we looked at were either available or feasible as it -- feasible to accommodate the proposed project. And that was based on the fact, as I mentioned in the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 introductory comments, that the alternatives must reduce the identified impacts, they must be feasible, and they must meet the basic objectives of the project. That concludes the formal portion of my presentation, Mr. Mayor. I will be happy to answer any questions. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Any questions from the City Council? COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Yes, Mr. Mayor. I do have, actually, two matters I would like to bring up. Normally, I wouldn't bring this matter up, but given the time constraint and the time that we're looking at, I'm compelled to read a statement that was faxed over today by the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, by Avner Shapiro, our trial attorney in this voting section. And it was addressed to Mr. Peter Wallin, our legal counsel. It was faxed.over at 3:14 p.m. today. And the fax states: I'm writing to follow up on our December 9th telephone conversation concerning the City of Rosemead's decision to rescind the special election for February 7th, 2006. Our consent decree entered in United States versus City of Rosemead, September 8, 2005, and in the Ninth Circuit's November 20, 2005, ruling in Padilla versus Beaver, the Ninth Circuit. As I explained during 25 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that conversation, under these circumstances, the Department of Justice will not seek to enjoin the February recall election if it is reinstated. The consent decree is a forward-looking document designed to ensure that all voters of the city have access to a collection of materials and information as required by federal law. We fully expect that the future elections and petitions are handled in the manner that's consistent with the requirement of Section 203 of Voting Rights Act and our consent decree. We'll look forward to working with you and other city officials to ensure the implementation of an effective language minority election program. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me or my colleague, Roberto Sanchez. So I would kind of want to enter this into the minutes because of the time frame. And perhaps we could get a legal opinion from our legal counsel on this. The other matter was, you know,given the fact that at tonight's hearing, Peter did mention that we do have a legal action against the original environmental impact report, CEQA requires that the City Council must take action to approve the entire EIR and not just the revised sections. The original EIR, with addendums, is approximately 900 pages. And the revised EIR, plus YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 WM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Staff reports and the two resolutions on the project, are 525 pages. So you're looking close to over 1400 pages. And neither Councilmember Nunez and I were on the Council when the document was previously considered. There has been only 10 days for us to be able to study and read these documents. California law requires that in order for an independent judgment to be made, the required days are 45 days for the Council to carefully look at this. And many of the Wal-Mart actions are legal only if there is a properly -approved environmental impact report. Therefore, I request that we move to continue this hearing for an additional 35 days, asking that if you could allow us to -- for Councilman Nunez and I to fully digest all these documents, which you're looking at reams of paper, three stacks here, about over 1400 pages. So I'm respectfully asking you, Mr. Mayor, if I can continue this for an additional 35 days. MAYOR IMPERIAL: -- continue to read it -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You can continue to read it and bring yourself up to where you feel you're being shorted. But right now we'll have a comment -- COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: But, Mr. Mayor, how can we confidently vote on this when we only received this 10 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 days ago? You've had -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Were you here 10 days ago -- yes, go ahead. MR. WALLIN: Councilman Tran is correct that the action that is before the Council tonight is to recertify the entire environmental impact report. And _ thus, yes, we will be considering approval of the entire environmental impact report. But CEQA also says, and the judgment says, that all we're required to do is recirculate that portion that was found defective, which was the alternative site analysis. The original EIR, which was approved back in September 2004, was circulated for the full 45 days. It was available to -- it's been available in City Hall since 2004. And everybody -- I think the first time around on this project, everybody had an opportunity to look at it. But it has been available all this time. And that EIR was determined to be adequate in all respects, other than those two that I mentioned. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Any other comments from Council? COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Yes, sir. I have some comments. Again, just to follow up on Mr. Tran's comments on this. Yes, it was available out there. But even as the gentleman and his introductory to this YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 process that he did right now, he referred to things -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: -- he referred to things that Council took action, changed, and had some -- apparently some discussion on. We have not had any of those discussions. We have not been able to look at this report. I tell you, you can see, to my surprise, if you see this stack, you know, walking into your office one day -- and probably two days before I was supposed to leave town for a whole week -- and you see this stack of papers in there.. And I was really -- I was really surprised that we didn't get any of this. I didn't know that this was part of the -- this is all the stuff that we were supposed to have read. I think that if somebody.would have gave this to me sooner, I would have had a lot more questions and been able to break it down. And kind of going back to signing the blank check, as Mr. Taylor always puts it, I hope that the rest of the Council doesn't ask me to sign a blank check here, because there is a lot of things that we can go through.here. I know that I spent time in City Hall, and we could have scheduled -- I don't know, it looks like a good -- you tell me. How many hours to go over this with Mr. Johnson, you know, ask questions, get YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 29 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 fully informed on this thing -- on this project? So I think Mr. Tran, in asking you to give us -- you know, we could probably have a hearing, but let us not vote on this project for another 35 days so we can come up with some good questions. Not just asking questions, not just fishing for things, but be able to ask Mr. Johnson and Mr. Crowe some good questions about what's going to go on in that piece of property. I know that it seems apparently traffic was a big concern of the other City Council, yet we haven't had the opportunity to talk about that. It's not even one of the things that is -- that you're looking at on your revised EIR. So how can you ask us to make a vote today? I think it's important that we go out there and see the concerns, you know, talk more about the -- all the other -- your revised EIR. You know, when did we get this? Thursday? When did we get this? Thursday? Thursday. Of course, I didn't get it until Sunday. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You were out of town. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Well, I'm telling you, I didn't get this until Sunday. Okay. I know Maggie Clark didn't get this until Sunday, at best, also. So -- you know, I'm not a fast reader. So I don't know if YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 mom 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Ms. Clark can read all of this in two days. I don't know. But I just think that the Councilmember Tran's request for waiting 35 days to look through this project, I think, would be well -serving for the citizens. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Mr. Mayor, given the past history and what we've been through in the last eight months and more than that, you know, it's predictable where the votes are going to be with this project. We're pleading for your fairness in allowing us to digest all this fully -- (Applause.) COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: -- so we can actually make a decision. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr.. Tran, I just want to point one thing out. Okay. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. We can't hear. We can't hear you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: I just want to point one thing out, Mr. Tran. And that is just because we don't agree on an item doesn't mean it's not being done fair. (Applause and jeering.) COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Mr. Mayor, I don't disagree with you. I know we do disagree on many issues, and we're probably going to disagree on this YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 issue as well. But allow us the 35 days to fully digest this so we can sit down with Peter, our legal counsel, as well our planning director and city manager, myself, and Councilman Nunez, to fully consider this and look at all the points. And, you know, there were some suggestions that came up, and some information that was given to us by planning tonight. It's kind of difficult to make such a tough decision without really understanding a lot of this, and especially in 10 days. And as Councilmember Nunez stated, that he had the revised one, he picked it up on Sunday. And I know that Councilman Clark did, as well, too. So it's kind of difficult to really look at this. So again, just be fair. Allow us to look at this, and allow us to represent our community. So I'm actually requesting that -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Mr. Mayor, may I please speak? Actually, I took with me on the plane to the National League of Cities and back -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: She said, in case you didn't hear -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Can you hear me now? Actually, I received the comments from the opponents. It was a very thick document. I read every YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 word of them on the plane and on the plane back -- (Applause.) COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: -- from the National League of Cities in North Carolina, which Mr. Nunez and I went to. And then I did read the responses. I had already read the comments so I could just see the responses in this, in the days that I did get it. And I find it a little bit disingenuous that the large amount that's been out there wasn't read. I know people in the audience who are opposed to this project who have probably read every page. I would imagine that Larry Sevington and Jim Flournoy and Estelle Holtz and Marlene -- if I'm forgetting you, I don't mean it. But this project has been in the works for months and months. And I find it rather strange that people that ran on this issue haven't read the documents that are available. (Applause.) COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: That's all I have. MR. WALLIN: Yes, I would like to point out that the judge, understanding that he was -- there was only going to be a limited review of the EIR, gave the City only 90 days to do the revised EIR. As attorney of record in that case, I am concerned that we're already 30 days over that time limit. It is not necessary to go 33 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 back and revisit the entire EIR, although if we wish to -- but the judge only gave us 90 days to complete this, and I think we should take that into consideration. And if either Mr. Tran or Mr. Nunez just want to make a motion to continue the public hearing, that would be perfectly in order. I haven't heard such a motion yet. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Mr. Wallin, have you gotten -- has the City been admonished for not having it done yet? Has the Court contacted you and said -- asking you, "Do you need more time?" Or have they just been silent, waiting for you to finish it? MR. WALLIN: No. We returned, telling them that we did have a public hearing scheduled for tonight and that we're proceeding accordingly. And the matter would be taken up by -- COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: And if you ask for another extension, it would more than likely be given, would it not? MR. WALLIN: I don't know. But I suspect that we could get another extension. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: And another 35 days coulc be in order? MR. WALLIN: If the Court could see a reason YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 34 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for it. MR. BRIGGS: Hey, Peter. This is Cory Briggs -- COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: I would like to make a motion to postpone any vote tonight for 35 days so that we can review and -- review the entire project, since we have to vote on the entire EIR. MAYOR IMPERIAL: We have a motion on the floor. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Second. MR. WALLIN: That would be to continue the. public hearing? ,COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Correct, to be continued. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. What's your -- MR. CROWE: Discussion. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Discussion vote. There is a second. Okay. A motion and a second. Okay. All in favor, signify by saying "aye." MR. CROWE: Do you want to do a roll call? THE CLERK: Councilman Clark. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: No. THE CLERK: Councilmember Nunez. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Yes. THE CLERK: Councilmember Tran. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Yes. THE CLERK: Mayor Pro Tem Taylor. - YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: No. THE CLERK: Mayor Imperial. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Absolutely not. (Applause and jeering.) MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Mayor, I would like to make a comment. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Recall. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: On March the 22nd, we had a City Council meeting. Councilman Tran, Councilman Nunez were sworn in. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Can't hear you. Speak up. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Councilman Tran -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Can you hear him now? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: No. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: They were sworn in that night. And an executive session was called to try and put a moratorium on the Wal-Mart project, and it needed four votes to get that. Mr. Tran made the comment five times that we need an independent council to look at this EIR. And it was 10 days before the court hearing with Judge Yaffe. At that time Mr. Nunez and Mr. Tran were well aware that the EIR was available. And the fact that they chose not to read it for eight months, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that's not our fault. Because they did not take the opportunity to do that, they can abstain on the vote and say that they did not read the material. Thank you. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: I just want to correct you, that we, weren't given these until -- what was the date, John? COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Ten days. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Ten days ago. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Any further comments, or go on to the next subject? Okay. We're going to open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak on any items, please THE CLERK: First speaker, Julie Gentry. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you. MR. BEVINGTON: I want to make a formal protest against the efforts of Mr. Wallin and others to limit this hearing to the alternate site only.. It is very clear -- and I'll be happy to present some documents to this Council which show that the matter of the 24-hour operation should be before this Council and should be heard at this time. If you would like to take this -- COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Could you identify yourself for our reporter? MR. BEVINGTON: The matter of 24 hours was not dismissed by the judge. The judge told them their YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 37 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 24-hour protest -- the 24-hour operation EIR was an absolute sham. They ought to do something to clarify it. If the Council will look at page 6 of the resolution 2005-44 I just passed out -- some people -- and based on my protest for this limitation on the 24-hour operation. If you read that last paragraph, it makes it very clear that the Staff presented a 14 -hour operation to the City Council in their Staff report. The City Council, upon the demand of representative of Wal-Mart, that they would walk out of,the project if they didn't get a 24-hour operation, changed the hours of operation without any environmental investigation. The Wal-Mart and their representatives then went to the judge, and many, many times mentioned that the EIR was based on 24-hour operation. There has never been a change in the environmental document. If there is a change in the environmental from a 14 -hour to a 24-hour operation, we've all been damned fools. And if you read the last section, the underlined section in that paragraph, you'll discover that it says they don't need to change to the 24-hour operation because it's consistent with a covenant that Wal-Mart has placed before the City for a future action. Now let's not kid anybody. As long as they have a majority on this City Council, they will be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 m 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 granted that 24-hour operation. CEQA says you shall consider not only the current operation, but the future probability. There is an absolute probability that Wal-Mart will come back and ask for a 24-hour operation. That makes it absolutely certain that this Council should have before it the matter of a 24-hour operation of Wal-Mart. If you read the very last sentence, it says the -- is not significant as it changes the conditions back to what was included. Now, listen carefully. Back to what was included in the original draft EIR in August 2004, the final EIR -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Is his three minutes up? MR. BEVINGTON: -- before the City Council, it was based on a 14 -hour operation, by their own declaration here in this document. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Sevington -- MR. BEVINGTON: So there should have been a change in this thing, at some point, either to a 24-hour operation before the Council ever approved it, or back to a 14 -hour operation, which they now say is going on. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Bevington, your three minutes is up. And we're trying to keep this thing in order. MR. BEVINGTON: I am not relinquishing my time YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 until I'm complete. I'm accusing this Council of not knowing what the hell is going on -- lying in court and lying here. The Council officially referred back to that it was a 14 -hour operation, then the Council illegally -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: All right. Mr. Bevington, you've used up your time. Thank you. MR. BEVINGTON: Mr. Mayor,.I will not -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: You've used up your time, Mr. Bevington. MR. BEVINGTON: I will absolutely advise you that I will not relinquish my time. I will make my statement and make it very clearly, when I think this Council is in the wrong. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. Mr. Bevington, you've said your piece. Now, if Mr. Bevington doesn't think he's served his piece, then somebody ought to talk to him. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Recall. Recall. Recall. Recall. (Cheers and applause.) MR. WALLIN: I would like, at this time, to note for the record that on December 8th, 2005, after the agenda packet was mailed out, we did receive the deed -- I mean, the declaration of covenants executed by 40 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Wal-Mart, and that has been recorded. And we have that included in the -- that was delivered to each Councilmember after the agenda packets were sent out. So everybody has a copy of the covenant by which Wal-Mart has restricted its hours. And they can't change that. THE CLERK: Julie Gentry. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You've had your time to speak. Somebody else has a turn coming up. I would appreciate it if you try to behave yourselves like good human beings. If not, well, then I would like to have you escorted out of here. Thank you. You heard what I said. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Just like you. Just like you. It's a two-way street. THE CLERK: Miss Gentry. MS. GENTRY: From the very beginning of this fight, those of us who would want the Wal-Mart in Rosemead have been booed, jeered, interrupted, shouted down, and treated like lepers. (Applause.) MS. GENTRY: Good men and good women have fought and died to preserve the freedoms we have in this country. We have the freedom of speech. But in their minds, this freedom of speech is only for them. Until I 41 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 hear differently, Rosemead is still a part of this free country, and we have a right to want a Wal-Mart in Rosemead. It's a fantasy to believe that any chain supermarket wanted to come to Rosemead. If they wanted to come here, they would have come here a long time ago, when the Alpha Beta on Valley Boulevard was bought by Ralph's, which is really Kroger's from back east. Rosemead was not considered to be worthy of a nice, remodeled store like the ones they have in Temple City and -- they just left us high and dry. This is happening in many cities. Grocery stores are going out and not coming in. This leaves us having to drive further and further away. Wal-Mart is the store that wants to come here. We will never have another chance like this. I'll end by saying I wish Wal-Mart would build across the street from me. But there is no large vacant alternative parcel of land left in Rosemead except the one on the corner of Rush and Walnut Grove. But the people down there are not in contact with reality to think that this viable property will remain empty. I urge the Council to adopt the revision to the EIR. Thank you. THE CLERK: I'm going to call three speakers, and they'll speak in this order. Susan Young. Antonio Morales, Junior. And Assembly Member Chu. Please come YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 42 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to one of the mics. Miss Young, you'll speak first. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: She's left. She is not going to speak. THE CLERK: She's left. Okay. Antonio Morales,. Junior. Okay. Assembly Member Judy Chu. MS. CHU: Mayor and Councilmembers. I am here to oppose the approval of the revised EIR for Rosemead's Wal-Mart super center. I urge the Council to reject this EIR based upon the long-term negative impact on this community and Wal -Mart's appalling environmental track record. Wal-Mart has a long history of environmental violations that make it doubtful of its commitment to follow through with any mitigation plans included in this EIR. Wal-Mart has been fined $3.1 million by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2004 for environmental violations in nine states. These violations include failure to mitigate construction runoff and discharge, and the failure to obtain requited permits. In January, Wal-Mart had to pay $400,000 to pay claims against their stores for violating Federal air pollution regulations in 11 states. In the state of Kansas, the U.S. Attorney charged Wal-Mart with 20 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 43 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 violations of the Clean Air Act. In Florida, Wal-Mart was fined $765,000 for violating the petroleum storage tank lawsatits automotive service centers. How can anyone on this Council trust this EIR or the promises of the Wal-Mart Corporation? Haw can this EIR be taken seriously when it dismisses the threat of air and noise pollution created by 12,400 additional diesel trailer trucks and cars running down Walnut Grove Street in Rosemead next to children? Indeed, the response to my letter in the EIR confirms that the Wal-Mart project will exceed the South Coast Air Quality Management thresholds for three pollutant reactive organic gases, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide. The EIR then states that the decision-making body will have to decide whether certain benefits outweigh the environmental impacts of the project. Well, I do not see how there is any benefit to Wal-Mart that outweighs the environmental impact of this project. What I see is devastation of a local, small community. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Your time is up. Thank you. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor. I wonder if you would extend our Assembly Member's time, Assembly Member of the State of California. I would ask you to extend her time. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. Let her finish this, and move on to the next one. MS. CHU: I will finish with just the sentence: What I see is devastation of local businesses, loss of decent jobs. I do not see how any benefit could come that outweighs the environmental impacts of this project. And I implore the members of the Council to reject this travesty which is disguised as the EIR. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Will the following three speakers please come to a microphone. Art Soriano and Larry Bevington and -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Sevington had his turn. THE CLERK: It was not his official turn, and he does have a card. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Aren't we supposed to be trading off? THE CLERK: We're going one from each box. Is Mr. Soriano present? Mr. Sevington. MR. BEVINGTON: I did not speak during the public hearing. I'll take my time now. This environmental project is deficient -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He already spoke. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mayor -- YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 45 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR IMPERIAL: Yes? I can't hear you. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Control your crowd. MR. BEVINGTON: Am I starting on my time, then, Mayor? MAYOR IMPERIAL: I am doing the best I can to control the crowd. But when you start raving, like you have been, there is only one other,control. So don't push me to that. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You listen to us. We don't want to hear from you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Why don't you come over here so I can see who you are and I can answer you? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You've been here for 30 years, Bud. You need to get the hell out of here. MAYOR IMPERIAL: I've been asked by one of our Councilpeople here to give you your three minutes, Mr. Bevington. MR. BEVINGTON: Am I on now? The environmental documents on this whole project are flawed in at least 10 areas. The revised EIR completely ignores the risk with respect to the 24-hour operation. It should be prepared. The rejection of three alternate sites are based on erroneous items -- that the alternates do not meet all the objectives of the City. CEQA only requires that YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 alternative sites meet most of the objectives but the sites are not under the control of the lead agency. The situation was, until the last few days, also true, neither the City nor the developer owned that site. The use of the resolution -- consideration is used to -- health and other detail offset.not presented, how the justification of the overriding consideration truly offsets the dangers to health. The demands of Caltrans for a study of and possible mitigation for traffic and cars have been addressed to the City at least five times. The City Staff consultant has chosen to ignore them. I think that's a travesty -- possible for a similar project for the adjacent city in E1 Monte was never explored and instead dismissed as being unsatisfactory. The study of the total effect of the onsite earthquake and -- are not documented and explained. A building on 50 feet of.a centerline of an earthquake similar to the last one that occurred on that site is not presented. A mere statement in the court read -- did not adequately present justification for failing to meet state and local standards for investigation of seismic problems. The alternative sites were all rejected for the same or less serious problems as exist on the current site; near schools, near residences, close.to YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 47 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 playgrounds. The traffic study of the original site, and, therefore the alternatives are not based on an origin and destination study, therefore, failing to correctly measure the effects on Rice Elementary School which will be exposed to severe traffic danger. The revised EIR makes frequent references to reasonable choices. It never defines who is in power to make such choice -- ask for a situation and ask for consideration by the City, it will be accepted or denied. It is very clear that such choices were demanded by the developer and acquiesced to by the Staff. The Wal-Mart document -- MS. BERMEJO: Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, the gentleman has exceeded the time limit. MR. BEVINGTON: -- that is not true and is another sham. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Bevington, wrap it up. Mr. Sevington, you're over your 10 minutes. Mr. -- THE CLERK: Martha Manriquez. Ken Pike. James Palo. In that order, please, come to the microphone. MS. MANRIQUEZ: My name is Martha Manriquez. I just have three things why I oppose it. It's across the street from a grammar school. It's in a residential neighborhood. And the traffic that it's going to cause YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 on another city, not the City of Rosemead. So I oppose it. THE CLERK: Mr. Ken Pike. Mr. Pike, it's your turn. MR. PIKE: My name is Ken Pike, and I live in Rosemead, 9220 Steele Street. I have been there for better than 30 years. And I -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Can you hear him? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yes. MR. PIKE: Beg your pardon? MAYOR IMPERIAL: They can hear you now. MR. PIKE: Okay. I've been at my present address for over 30 years, and I've been here since the inception of the incorporation of Rosemead. Now, I have expressed previously my opposition to the power grab here by getting control of our Council. And if I ever had it reinforced, I would tonight, because I see -- I have said that the State set up the Election Code for electing Councilpeople so that you never had an inexperienced Council. I've had it shown to me tonight what an inexperienced Councilpeople -- they don't understand what's going on and they don't get it read. And they've adequately spoken to that point tonight. And I think that's why this whole power grab that's coming up is strictly so they can control the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 FRI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Council. And they're inadequate to control the Council because they don't have the background to do it. Now, after they get their four-year term, in the last couple of years, they should begin -- if they diligently study, they should begin to understand the duties of the Council. But when I hear outside people coming in and say that they don't agree with this environmental impact report because it's close to schools, there is schools -- everywhere you go, there is schools. And the -- it doesn't adversely affect the school. And I don't know who is talking over there, but I still have my time. And I think it's kind of bad to interrupt the person that supposedly had the floor from a standpoint of parliamentary procedure. It is not done by any people that understand parliamentary procedure. So I would urge you to -- with the knowledge that you have attained through your time on the Council and the inadequacy of the opposition tonight, I would advise you to go ahead and adopt your environmental impact report, because it has had study and it's been available, and by all of them. It's just a stalling process, in my opinion, to be one to put it off. Thank you. THE CLERK: Mr. James Flournoy. MR. FLOURNOY: James Flournoy, 8655 Landis YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 View. I would like to thank the honorable Councilmember and Mr. Pike for his comments. I thought they had a lot of merit to them. Thank you, Mr. Pike. I also want to say that Mr. Paul Simpson can't be with us tonight because he's on a vigil, sort of a protest -type thing. And I pray leave to talk in his place when he's called. Anyway, I'm going to talk to you not about bridges today, Jay. We're going to.talk about -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: You mean you know something besides bridges? MR. FLOURNOY: We're going to talk about the civil engineering report, which is called the Civil Geotechnical Report. Because last time, this had not been approved prior to your voting. And I wanted to inform you that it still hasn't been. You have a civil engineering report that is approved by your geotechnical reports, andthe civil engineering is not a seismic mapping report. It is, severely deficient in a number of matters. Particularly in the liquefaction area where you did not investigate along the Old Alhambra Wash for liquefaction, which is the most likely spot. You didn't look along the earthquake fault, and you did not study -- it's going to be a Panda. Now it's going to be a gas station. You didn't look there. And YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 on the face of it, you didn't look on the wash fault. So they can't apply those parameters to the earthquake study, to the liquefaction study. So the liquefaction study they did do is bogus. You have a fine civil engineering report. FEMA requires them to be 30 meters, not 15 feet.. Fifteen feet is what you do for compaction and grading and soils. It's a wonderful report for that, but it doesn't do what it's supposed to do and what it's required to do prior to you voting on this project. So I'm just saying, you have to have this report prior to approval of the project. That's what the State law says. And I advise you not to vote on this, to continue this meeting before you vote on the project and get the stamp from Arroyo for a seismic mapping report. Thank you. THE CLERK: Miss Polly Low. To follow Miss Low is Steven Ly and Ron Gay. MS. LOW: Good evening. I just want to point out as much as I oppose the project, I did review the document and try to come up with a very objective view of the EIR report. And kind of here is my finding. I feel that this revised EIR failed to examine alternative sites within a reasonable distance of the boundary of the city. A reasonable distance could be defined as 5 52 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 to 10 miles from the proposed site. Now, according to CEQA, the EIR should describe a range of reasonable alternates to the project or to the location of the project which would be feasible -- most of the basic objective of the project, but would avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects of the project. Without examining alternate sites there are within a reasonable radius of a proposed project, they really failed to identify sites that could avoid or substantially lessen any of the significant effects. One of the many significant effects of this project is traffic. Now, we have talked about traffic on the 60, but I also want to get back to the traffic that's on Walnut Grove. There is two lanes for traffic from Walnut Grove that will be turning left and merging from another two lanes of traffic from San Gabriel Boulevard into the only two lanes that lead into the 60 Freeway, and that's a major impact. Another significant impact are the children that cross the street at the proposed site. This is very possible -- is to be located in another more suitable site within a reasonable distance. There are a lot of lands along the 60 Freeway that are more suitable for this project. By carefully examining other YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 53 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 alternate sites, they would definitely avoid significant impacts to the children. By choosing another site that's within a reasonable area but not limited to the Rosemead city boundary, can accomplish the project objective one, two, three, five, and six, which are responsive to the reasonable market, needs of the resident, job creation, compatible within the vicinity, land use, and considered within the policy and the requirement of the City's general plan, which was before it was changed for the Wal-Mart project. Only objective four will not be met, which is the tax revenue. Therefore, examining sites that are beyond the city limit will satisfy all but one of the objectives, and it can avoid or substantially lessen many or all of the significant effects. This revised EIR has failed to do so. So that's all the comment I have. Thank you. THE CLERK: Mr. Steven Ly. MR. LY: Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. I just want to direct my comments on Wal-Mart, which.is a company that brings in new jobs. It's a company that brings in a lot of money in tax revenue. We're talking about 700,000 in tax revenue. We're talking about 500 jobs, at least full-time jobs, for the city, which pay an average salary of 9.37 an hour, which is pretty much 54 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES. (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 on par with all other retailers out there. It is a company that lowers consumer price index by 3 percent nationally and -- inflation by that much -- should be recognized for its ability to do that. I also want to direct certain comments regarding the Wal-Mart alternative sites. I read the revised EIR and the alternative site areas, and every single argument that Wal-Mart makes makes sense. The other side keeps on arguing how all these other factors are coming into play, the traffic, the air pollution, the air pollution qualities. If they were so bad, Judge Yaffe would have kicked them out. But Judge Yaffe accepted it. That's the reason that the Council today is just looking at the revised EIR, specifically regarding alternative sites. Also, Mr. Tran, Mr. Nunez, if you are unable to read about 1,000 to 2,000 pages in 10 days, maybe you should resign from the Council also. But you know what? If you choose not to resign, that is grounds for incompetence. In which case maybe we should begin a recall on you. Let us also move on. Miss Chu, Dr. Chu, too, I have a lot of respect for, made some comments regarding why Wal-Mart is a bad company. How can such a company, which one that brings in $700,000 in sales tax revenue YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 55 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for a city that is -- that has no city tax at all be a bad thing? How can -- well, you know, I guess my position is since she is a state legislator who continually tries to take money from the cities increase -- I guess that's the reason why she would hate that. But you know what? That's okay. Just she's running for the Board of Equalization. So we'll see what happens there. Thank you. COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: Mr. Mayor, I would like to remind both sides that we are speaking on the alternative sites issue. So you can keep that in mind, Mr. Mayor. MAYOR IMPERIAL: I'm keeping that in mind, but I also remember some other things that were said. MR. GAY: Ron Gay, 4106 Encinita Avenue. Mr. Ly, you don't need to live in Rosemead, your mother does. You know, excuse me, folks. I had something prepared tonight. Please sit down. Thank you. I had something prepared tonight to go off this faulty EIR, which it is. Bottom line, folks, no matter what we say, it's a done deal as far as our City Council is concerned. Their priority is Wal-Mart. They don't give a hoot about the citizens in this city. They don't care about the kids that live -- that go to school across the street, our elderly people that live in the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 56 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 condos. They don't care about anything. Because bottom line is they have sold their soul to the devil. And it is strictly -- it's strictly a matter of time before justice will prevail and our two buddies up there that have been up there will be gone. Now, getting back to what this is all about as far as alternative sites. Bottom line, there is no suitable site for Wal-Mart in this city, period. And it is a sad day when Wal-Mart, with all their attorneys -- and we have them here taking their notes. That's fine and dandy, folks. But they do not run and own this city, and they can pack their bags with Mr. Mike Lewis, who is the biggest outsider here, and go back to Bentonville. And that's all I've got to say. Your day is coming. Thank you. THE CLERK: Jack Adkins. Nolan Ng. And •R. Sandsbury. Jack Adkins is our first speaker. MR. NG: My name is Nolan Ng. Dr. Nolan Ng. I'm a new resident of Rosemead, and I would like to address the Council. Your Honor, as a new resident in the City of Rosemead -- I've seen many Council meetings before, and I can tell you that the Council should be unbiased. And it seems -- in my opinion, it seems pretty biased from where I'm sitting. And I want to know if you guys are going to be remembered as someone YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 57 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10' 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 who destroyed Rosemead, or someone who is going to leave a legacy to be remembered by. I agree with some of the economic factors, but I do disagree with having a Wal-Mart. And this environmental impact report, I believe, is flawed for several reasons. I don't see how it is addressing the school zone across the street. Do you have proper crossing guards or bridges that you will provide for the students? Will you guys have proper traffic zones and traffic signals and address the traffic -- proper traffic through Delta and the surrounding streets which are considered country roads? I believe that the environmental impact may be positive through -- to city government. But to the residents of Rosemead, it's a detest. I strongly oppose this. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Jack Adkins. Mr. Adkins. MR. ADKINS: My name is Jack Adkins. I live at 3740 Ellis Lane, Rosemead. My statement for tonight is I'm in support for the Wal-Mart because I've used a lot of these facilities throughout the United States through my travels. And I find them very clean, and I find them very helpful. And I think the problem here in the State of California is no one has the experience of being in YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 F 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 these facilities. And a Super Wal-Mart is not just a regular, ordinary Wal-Mart that we have here in this state. These are larger facilities, and they offer a lot of products which all of us will be using at one time or another. And these -- like I said, my experience in these facilities are exceptional and outstanding. They have good products in here. And the fact that this is a first one, I believe, in the State of California, so it's going to -- everyone is going to have to get adjusted to that. I realize there is going to be a lot of competition, that they're not going to like it, but that's competition. And this area is changing a lot, and I think it's going to be a big improvement for that factor. Thank you. (Applause.) THE CLERK:. Our next speaker is R. Sandsbury. And J.P. Desai to follow, and Bob Bruesch. MS. SANDSBURY: Hello, my name is Rosemary Sandsbury, and I'm a registered voter here in the City of Rosemead. And for the record, number one, I always make it a point to vote, even in the special elections. And number two, I'm opposed to having Wal-Mart here in Rosemead. We already have at least three Wal-Mart stores located within a seven -mile radius of Rosemead; YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 59 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 City of Industry, Pico Rivera, and Duarte. We don't need another in Rosemead. But Jay Imperial, Gary Taylor, and Margaret Clark, let the democracy really work. Just let the residents of Rosemead vote for this issue. (Applause.) THE CLERK: J.P. Desai. MR. DESAI: I'm J.P. Desai, and I am here to support this Wal-Mart in this city. I've been here in. this city 30 years, and our Councilpeople, they are doing a great job in the city. You can see the -- in the past 30 years, we don't have any big lands that can improve. These people are ready to do these things. Their hands are tied. Now, this land has been there for a long time, and there are people who are dumping a lot of trash in there and all these kinds of things. Now we have a people to look forward to get this land improved, and we want to look for more future. Not just looking for now. We will have lot of employee opportunities, lot of tax money, and these people can see all these things. If we are residents of people, we all live in the city, and we concern about environmental and all these things, we have environmental agency to protect our laws. So we don't have to worry much about that. So just let this YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Wal-Mart go in this city and go for it. Thank you. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Mr. Bruesch, vou're our next speaker. To follow, I have someone that only put their first name, Danny, on Brookline Avenue, and Victor Ruiz. MR. BRUESCH: Bob Bruesch, 7500 Wilmar. I've read the EIR and also the addendum. And one of the problems I have with the EIR is they don't go to the specifics. They talk about traffic and air quality in general terms overall. I'm concerned with specifics of this particular site. We have three schools in our school district that are within a couple blocks of the site. I'm not going to go into the idea that air pollution will destroy the lungs, because we all know that that is true. We're not going to get away from that. My main concern is the traffic in that area. All three of these schools, in the last two years, have added extensive after-school programs. We have gone out and gotten after-school tutoring programs. I'm not referring to recreation. After-school programs where the children are there in the schools until 3:30 to 5:30 every day at Rice, Temple, and Sanchez. That means that those children are going home and crossing those streets without -- I repeat, without a crossing YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 rim 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 guard. And with the increased traffic there, the impacts on those children are going to be increased. Also, at Temple school, we are going to be building, this coming year, a major gym. And that gym will have activities going for those children until probably 7, 8, 9 o'clock at night. And there is another increased impact of traffic. 'What I think -- I believe that the logical and the safer site for a Wal-Mart would be the Temple City/Valley site. Because that is away from major schools. That is far -- the nearest school is six blocks away. It is not in a residential area. And they already have a traffic flow pattern that has been established by your EIR as a major traffic pattern. The City did have several study sessions on that site in terms of developing it in conjunction with E1 Monte. And there is adequate site for the -- adequate space for the Wal-Mart there. And it would be in an area that is already a commercial/industrial zone and not anywhere close to where kids are going to be roaming the streets until late at night. So I would really humbly ask you to consider the Temple City/Valley site as a more logical and safer site for our children. Thank you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: I would like to make a comment to Mr. Bruesch's comment just now. And this is from YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 62 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 July 2nd, 2002, to Mr. Peter Kanelos. Dear Mr. KANELOS: Thank you for the informational package that you mailed out on June 7th, 2002, to myself and the other Councilmembers of the Rosemead City Council. This demonstrates Wal -Mart's true dedication and commitment to communities in which they establish. I am very impressed with the progress that has been put into the communities throughout California. It's apparent that Wal -Mart's charitable contributions go above and beyond the normal outreach, and also the economic impacts that their companies contribute to the local state and team -- over the next few months as you proceed with your entitlement application for the City.of Rosemead. We thank you very much. Robert Bruesch, Mayor, City of Rosemead. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So? So what? THE CLERK: Is there a Danny? MR. BRUESCH: Mayor Imperial, may I answer your question? MAYOR IMPERIAL: You can. MR. BRUESCH: Okay. In March, we were informed that Wal-Mart was going to give out to all local schools -- and I say local schools, generally -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: They normally do. MR: BRUESCH: They were going to give out YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 M— =1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 charitable contributions to different schools. May I have my time, please? MAYOR IMPERIAL: You've got it, if your patriots over there -- MR. BRUESCH: The schools that are immediately around that area received absolutely nothing. Not a cent. In addition, Mr. Imperial, in addition, they were not even asked to submit a request. In addition, they lied and said they did send out that request to our schools. I have proof that they did not. Thank you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Is that before or after you wrote the letter? (Applause.) THE CLERK: Do we have a Danny from Brookline Avenue? COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Mr. Mayor, can we recess at this point? MAYOR IMPERIAL: I don't think we're ready yet. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Well, there is a couple of things going on in the audience that I think we should recess for right now. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Well, what's your -- do you want to recess now or -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: What's going on? MAYOR IMPERIAL: What are you referring to? YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 CE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Mr. Nunez, can you be more specific an that? COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Well, I see something going on in the audience back there down the hallways. I think we need to recess. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Next comment. THE CLERK: Mr. Victor Ruiz. To follow would be Henry Lo, representing Senator Gloria Romero, and Debbie Turner. MR. RUIZ: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, Councilmembers. The majority of you know me already. I served on your traffic commission for eight years. Even those of you on the opposing side -- now, one of my major issues when I served you as a community member as your traffic commissioner was safety. Safety within our streets. Today, all those safety measures are being ignored. First of all, the environmental impact report is bogus, because the traffic issues are totally false. You're going to have major traffic problems. You are putting a Wal-Mart, a super center of a magnitude that -- I understand the gentleman said that Wal-Mart has never even built one like this, next to a school. Gentlemen, it is a traffic rule in this state not to put a commercial building, a retail center, next to a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 school. This environmental impact report is bogus on that respect, period. We have alternative sites. You have Temple City Boulevard and Valley. A site that hasn't been developed in over 10 years. Now, why can't Wal-Mart be there? If you're so interested in putting a Wal-Mart, put it there. Just, hey, scale it down. You don't have to have 24 acres so you can have free RV parking like the gentleman said. A free RV parking. I traveled around the United States, and I can go there and buy my goods. What he's talking about -- I have an RV. I know what he's'talking about. He parks his RV three days there. That's what he's talking about. Do you want that in your community? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: No. No. MR. RUIZ: Thank you. So I urge you -- Maggie Clark, once again, I urge you, take a stance. Okay. I think you know what I'm talking about. Reject this proposal. It is wrong. It is false. And you are being led by two Councilmembers that do not have a vision for our city. Thank you. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Henry Lo. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Mr. Mayor, may I just YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 W 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 make a comment? I would like to clarify the specific regulation. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Go right ahead. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Is that the Wal-Mart will not allow RV parking. That's specifically prohibited. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Mrs. Clark, can I ask questions, since I was not on the Council when you set this provision? Is this forever and ever? Or somewhere down the line, they can go ahead and add that choice? I'm sorry. I can't hear you. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I said it's forever, as far as I'm concerned. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: So you can tell me right now, you can promise me and promise further generations, if that's there for however long it's there, that you can feel 100 percent sure that we'll never have any overnight parking in there? You know, that's one of the selling points of Wal-Mart in the industry. I think it's called -- what does the commercial say, something about come on over and spend some time here while you travel America, or something to that effect? The thing is that we can't say that there will never be that there, because there could be a change in this Council, and the Council will say, "Yeah, it's an important thing to have that." So by you saying that it 67 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 will never be there, I don't think you can really say that. I'm not even sure that the legal team that's down there for Wal-Mart can say that. I know they'll never put that on anything that will be binding for -- I don't know how many years you want to consider it. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I would like Mr. Wallin to address this. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No. He mumbles. MR. WALLIN: Under CEQA, we evaluate a project. A project, as it's defined, is as it's presented to you. It's presented to you with a condition that says that there will be no RV parking. There will be no gun and ammunition sales. We can't evaluate a project that is not before us. In other words, if anybody ever wanted to come back and change those types of conditions, they would then have to go through some sort of CEQA review. And right now, the project that is before us does not have RV parking, and you can't -- so we can't -- we can't do an EIR saying, well, some day in the future something might change. We're looking at the project that's before us. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I can assure you, I would never vote to have that happen. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Well, and I can tell you, Mr. Wallin, the fact that "never ever" didn't come out YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 M 1 2- 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 of your mouth -- so apparently, never ever is not really possible. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Next speaker. THE CLERK: Mr. Lo. MR. LO: Good evening. My name is Henry Lo, and I'm here on behalf of the Senator Majority Leader, Gloria Romero -- we opposed the EIR. We urge the City Council to oppose the revised EIR. Now, all of us know that this is a chase for the almighty dollar. These leaders hope that revenue will be generated by Wal-Mart. And this is a story repeated throughout California. And we do thank the City of Rosemead for responding to our letter during written comments, in which it stated that the issue of a 24-hour operation is no longer relevant, as Wal-Mart has provided notices that it's withdrawing its request. But let's be realistic here. This is the world's larger retailer who forces its way into cities and forces its way to get its way to basically control communities across the nation. Last year, Senator Romero held a town -hall meeting in Rosemead in which we discussed the impact of Wal-Mart and big -box retailers on public services. Wal-Mart employees, 43,000 through California -- by Wal-Mart in California comes at a cost to taxpayers of an estimated $86 million. This is $32 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 W 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 million in health-related expenses and $54 million in other assistance_ Only 22 percent of Wal-Mart employees receive benefits. Wal-Mart has plans to build over 40 super centers in the State of California. If other large retailers adopted Wal -Mart's wage and benefits standards, it would cost taxpayers an additional $410 million a year in public assistance. So the question is, What do you think is going to happen in the future? What do you think is going to happen as more Wal -Marts open in California? What do you think is going to happen as local businesses here in Rosemead leave? Diminishing sales tax. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You asked a question, let me hear the answers. MR. LO: May I finish my comments? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Yeah. Sure. Go ahead. MR. L0: Okay. Thank you. As the people come -- certainly people will have to find a way to -- and I'm sure that you will. probably go to Wal-Mart -- and I'm sure they'll probably ask you, we can raise more revenue if you let us operate for 24 -hours. And to state tonight that you won't do it, well, that's questionable. Because remember, you are the same City Council, at least three of you over YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 70 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 there, who a couple years ago tried to extend your redevelopment zone to put a sign for Wal-Mart. Of course, that was stopped. The people here came and stopped your illegal actions. And so, again, to promise that you will not operate -- that you will not allow Wal-Mart to operate for 24 -hours, that is questionable. And so we urge you -- we urge you, oppose this EIR because of the long-term cost, because of the cost that's -- MS. BERMEJO: Mr. Mayor. The gentleman has exceeded his time. The time limit. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you. Thank you. Three minutes. Excuse me. MR. LO: We ask you to oppose the EIR. Thank you. THE CLERK: Debbie Turner. Julia Wang. And Paul Saito Miss Turner. Miss Wang. MS. WANG: Thank you. Good evening. My name is Julie Wang. I live at 1012 South Marengo in Alhambra. I have some introductory comments for our Councilmembers. Number one, I notice many of the speakers previously mentioned they received a response to their written comments. I did not receive any YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 71 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 response whatsoever. The only way I knew about this hearing was because I happen to be affiliated as a member of Save Our Community as a volunteer of that group. And I never received any response to my written comment. Number two, the alternative site analysis of the representative for Applied Engineering mentioned that there is a reasonable range as a legal guideline, I presume, to consider whether alternative sites can be used as alternative sites. In my written comment, I noted that none of the alternatives met any of these basic criteria on either the acreage number required for a Wal-Mart super center to be constructed in Rosemead on Walnut Grove and Rush. So the alternative site could never have been here. So the analysis of the site seemed to be based on an illogical premises. Number three, the EIR analysis was initially based on a 24-hour site. Now, currently, the EIR -- the Wal-Mart has amended that to a 14 -hour operation. It seems that the basis of the EIR originally has changed, so the entire EIR needs to be reanalyzed and redone, accordingly. Lastly, I would like my Save Our Community members to please stand up. Come on, you guys, stand up. All right. Councilmembers of the City of Rosemead, 72 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I want you to look at these people. These are people who have volunteered for close to three years of their lives. .They have not been paid one dime for anything that they have done. It has all been volunteer. What cause of justice can you possibly think could motivate a group of constituents to dedicate their retirement years, their work hours, their money, to anything but justice? They have fought and they have volunteered and they have sacrificed their time in order to remind you that they are constituents, passionate,constituents, that would sacrifice even more so to bring back democracy in Rosemead. Thank you for your time. THE CLERK: Mr. Paul Saito. Juan Cruz. And Alejandro Gandara. MR. SAITO: I would like to address my objection to the acceptance of the EIR on the following ground. The proposed site is directly across from Rice Elementary School. The site contains hazardous asbestos material. The site is located at the lowest elevation in all of San Gabriel Valley. The site is said to be in the once -- in 100 -year flood zone. The site is known to be in a recorded earthquake fault zone. The 1987, the Whittier earthquake was a 5.9 shaker, and it had its epicenter on the very site near Rush Street. The site is known to be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (851) 276-1333 73 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 located in a reported liquefaction zone. Both the San Gabriel River and the Rio Hondo River joins at Whittier Narrows. The site is located in the South Coast Basin. That is known as having the worst air in the entire nation. National EPA has warned California, unless it comes up with a -- to an acceptable standard to protect the health o.f its people, it could lose federal transportation funding. The time limit is 2021. The EIR did not cover some very basic concerns for the general public. This earthquake fault that runs through the entire property, from the Panda Restaurant to Rush Street. And the seismologist that was used by Southern Cal Edison in 1991 that trenched the property was Dr. P. Elly, and he stated in his study that he was to only plot the earthquake fault so a Wal-Mart could be built. He was not to explore any further. It is a biased study. CEQA asked these questions: Does the project exposes people -- MS. BERMEJO: Mr. Mayor, the speaker has exceeded the three-minute time limit. MR. SAITO: -- this building that is proposed -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: The time is up, but go ahead. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 74 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. SAITO: -- would endanger the people from falling merchandise and heavy merchandise that would be like projectiles. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you, sir. MR. SAITO: They tell us that the -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you, sir. MR. SAITO: -- the sedimentary ground shakes 10 times harder than on rocky soil. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you, sir. THE CLERK: Mr. Juan Cruz. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He went home. MR. SAITO: One other thing. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you. THE CLERK: Mr. Alejandro Gandara. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Gandara. MR. SAITO: -- that the air pollution exceeds the standards. And they want to still use the site that would draw over 6,000 cars and many trucks. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you, sir. Mr. Gandara is waiting. Mr. Gandara is waiting. Thank you, sir. THE CLERK: To follow Mr. Gandara will be Estelle Holtz and David Stewart. NIR. GANDARA: Alejandro Gandara, Rosemead resident for over 30 years. Alternate sites. I'm thinking that a better YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 75 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 location, if you're going to force Wal-Mart on us or if Wal-Mart has a way of coming in, please scale down, if you have to, to make people happy like you show them in the commercials. Let's make that real. And I believe, by walking the city, that most of the people I found who really are your customers who you should move as close to as possible seem to live on the north part of Garvey. They are salivating, they're excited, and they are hot for your store. Many of them tonight are dressed tonight like "Let's Make a Deal." They want your place there. They want to be near it. So do your people well. Move as close to them as possible. And even some of the Councilpeople who voted, I believe, live on that side of Garvey. So make your people happy like the commercial. I would like -- as I was sitting there, I looked at the Christmas decorations, too. But not just Wal-Mart, but other stores, but certainly Wal-Mart, when I look at Christmas things, that type of holiday, and so many things are made in China. Communist China. We're buying Christmas things from a communist country. Interesting. People are dying to buy these products, especially many of the people on the other side of Garvey. I find that almost any cost, regardless of how it affects the Rosemead residents on the other side of YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 76 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Garvey, they want their things. They want their stuff. The materialistic things have got to get in their homes. So please make them happy. Move close to them and sell to them, please. Now, I would also like to say that I was given, and I wasn't expecting to do this tonight, but I was given a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition for Maggie Clark. And I would like to hand it to the clerk at this time. There is not really much more to say. I'm sorry it's come to this. I'm sorry to see the division. These are people I do care about on the other side. It is not that divided in my heart. And I hope that we can all come together at some other time. This is that time to do so. There is an indication that seems to be forced at every meeting to do so. I hope we act, if we are not religious hypocrites. I hope we care about each other more than hate each other. Thank you very much. THE CLERK: Miss Estelle Holtz. MS. HOLTZ: Yes, I'm Estelle Holtz. I have so much that I would like to say, that's why I didn't bring a note along. But I know that if any of the City Council that votes for Wal-Mart lived near the site or their children lived near the site, you would be coming for help. And Rosemead has always been noted for people YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 77 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that helped. But I don't know what's happened. I don't know what's happened with our Council, this Council. Because people have came from all over Rosemead. These aren't just people that are hurt. These are people from all over Rosemead that care about people. Another thing I've been asked is how, in God's name, can a grass-roots organization stay together for going on three years? Only the love of seeing other people stay in a good position -- (Applause.) MS. HOLTZ: Now, one thing that whomever writes the letters for whomever, they always manage to keep the sick, the elderly, the poor, the children out of everything. Those are words we don't mention when we want Wal-Mart. But this second attempt on pretending that this is the only site in the world have to mention the children. And one place they mentioned it was in the first line. I mean, it's so ironic. They say in that attempt, there is a school within a half mile. If you had -- the same people that read the writing in the first EIR, they would have realized that at the site that Wal-Mart really wants to get into had four schools' names that will be hurt a lot. Plus, all of those children's activity. They never get away from it until they go to high school. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 r& 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 All of their sports will be affected. Until they go to high school, they may escape. I feel very strongly like -- it's just a pretense. Why would you look at something five or six acres as a proposed site when you know very well it has to be turned down? It's nothing but a bogus, this whole thing of let's pretend. But always go back to that site, because that's what Wal-Mart wants. That's what Wal-Mart wants. And Wal-Mart gets what Wal-Mart wants. And that's exactly why this Council have voted to stop an election. In the name of God, whoever heard of stopping an election; a legal election -- MS. BERMEJO: Mr. Mayor. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you. Thank you, Estelle. THE CLERK: David Stewart. Peggy Baumann. And Mr. Garrala of Walnut Grove. It just indicates Walnut Grove. The last name is G -a -r -r -a -1-a. MR. GARRALA: I'm here. THE CLERK: Ms. Baumann. MS. BAUMANN: Okay. I'm Peggy Baumann. 8305 South San Gabriel. In reading the revised EIR, I have concerns regarding the 24-hour operation. In the final EIR 2004, 79 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 conditions of approval, Condition Number 53 -- reads the hours of the operation of major tenant shall be limited to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., except during Christmas season. At the public hearing on September 7th, the hours were roughly changed to a 24-hour operation. I attended the court hearing on April 6th where your own or the Wal-Mart lawyer said it was always intended to be a 24-hour store, but it was just best not to say that publicly. The judge then said it was a scam and a ruse to fool the public. I don't think they're proud of that. I wouldn't be. And it sounds like maybe it's a Wal-Mart thing. I can't believe that the Councilmembers would be a part of that, at least the ones that I knew years ago. It also brings up the question, Was the EIR and all the related studies done for an 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. store or a 24-hour store? And this EIR revision correctly states that the Court found the EIR did not adequately analyze potential impacts from a 24-hour operation. It further states this issue was no longer relevant, as Wal-Mart has withdrawn its request for a 24-hour operation, and a restricted covenant will be recorded guaranteeing that no 24-hour operation of Wal-Mart super center will be allowed without further environmental review. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 ME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 And I couldn't find -- in a copy of the covenant. There is no definition of "Further environmental review" in the EIR revision. And I asked what that would encompass. And the answer was vague and inconsistent. Gloria Romero and I got the same answer to the question. The answer is, "Further environmental review will be provided to the extent determined necessary by the lead agency and consistent with provisions and requirements of CEQA." At this juncture, given that the 24-hour operation to projects are not proposed or_defined to comment on the -- content of such environmental analysis would be speculative at best. So if there is provisions and requirements, then the content should not be speculative. The inconsistency comes in the answer to Lydia Martinez and Marlen Shinen for a 24-hour operation. The answer there is, "Should 24-hour operation or other substantial modification to the project be proposed, the lead agency may require a subsequent environmental analysis." So my question is,.Is it maybe or is it going to be necessary? So I ask that question tonight. On August 5th when I asked that question before the public hearing, I asked what would be necessary to change it to a 24 -hour -operation. I was told it would just'be a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 81 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 change of an ordinance. So I do ask the question, What does it encompass and who is going to guarantee it? MS. BERMEJO: Mr. Mayor. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Yeah. Thank you very much. Next speaker. MS. BAUMANN: Is he going to answer my question or not? MAYOR IMPERIAL: We can do it during a break if you would like. But right now we've got some people that would like to take a break. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Answer the question. Answer the question. THE CLERK: Mr. Garrala. MR. GARRALA: Hello, Mr. Mayor. I would like to ask you why, as a representative of our city, why are you so rude to most of your residents? (Applause.) MR. GARRALA: This is seen by everybody here -- on this side is trying to speak to you. And you just seem to shun them out. You don't want to listen to them and you talk over them. And I would like to know why in the world you listen to most of the residents that don't live in the city on this issue? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Well, they want to speak, we let them speak. We have to have a break pretty quick. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 Y.l 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 And that's the most I can say to you right now. If you think I'm rude, it's only because you holler like hell, and there is nothing I can do to get your attention. Thank you. THE CLERK: The speaker stepped away. The . speaker stepped away, so we don't have a speaker at this point. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. That's it. We're going to take a five-minute break. (Recess taken, 9:07 p.m. to 9:25 p.m.) MAYOR IMPERIAL: The meeting will come back to order. THE CLERK: Will the following speakers please step up to the microphone. Steve Laguna and Miss Ikurosaki. MR. WALLIN: Mr. Mayor, while the next speakers are coming up, I would like to say that some people have indicated that they had to leave. And anybody who wants to submit a written statement, we -- just bring them up, and the City Clerk will get them, and we'll include them in the written record. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Could you reread that, Jay, one more time. MR. WALLIN: I understand that some people have to leave. If they want to leave a written YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 ME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 statement, that any such statements, we will include in the written record. Just bring them up to the City Clerk. MR. LAGUNA: Hi. May I start? THE CLERK: Mr. Laguna? MR. LAGUNA: Yes. THE CLERK: Yes. MR. LAGUNA: My name is Steve Laguna. I just want to make a point. I understand that we have people from different areas that aren't in Rosemead speaking on both sides, and I don't think that's really an issue. If it was Judy Chu, the woman who spoke who said she was from Alhambra, I just want to extent the courtesy to everybody that we just listen to what we have to say. I'm not here to be partisan. I'm not wearing a yellow shirt. I do tend to agree with some of the positions, and. that's because I'm trying to evaluate this as unpartisan like as possible. In my eyes, the first thing that popped out, Wal-Mart portrays there is benefits, employment, revenue. Those are the first things that pop out of my mind. And I feel that concern; too. I'm concerned about some of the safety issues. I'm concerned. Obviously, I've heard all the -- as far as wages. I'm concerned about that, too. But I've taken time to try and evaluate that. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 [L! 9 s 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 . But when you look at other stores, like the Targets and the Kmarts and some of the mom-and-pop shops up and down Valley Boulevard, when we bring up these issues about the safety of children at schools and traffic concerns and pollution concerns, that these issues -- were they ever raised or brought to the attention of the major media or major political representatives when we were building the Targets or the Kmarts which are adjacent to many schools? I know that Kmart is near a private school. I realize that -- I'm concerned about traffic. Obviously, if anybody lives near the city, we are concerned about traffic up and down Valley Boulevard, and the connections. But I also have to consider, when I think about this, is the benefits of employment and revenues for our city. I apologize. I'm not trying to belittle anybody's point. But I tend to think that we have a choice here to either deal with congestion or provide a store that provides for not just a certain area of the community. I feel we have a very diverse community, and a lot of the stores that are available to us right now do not serve everybody in the community. We can't go into a lot of the markets and buy the products that we need. And, I mean, if I'm wrong, so be it. I'm not trying to pontificate and pretend YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 b7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 like I know everything here. But it's a concern. And if I'm wrong, then I would love somebody to address that. You know, how are we going to provide for the products and services that a lot of us are not getting right now? And I am concerned about both sides. But I think that issue has to be addressed. Thank you very much: MAYOR IMPERIAL: I would like to answer that one question. Number one, we had the market -- American Market go out on Valley Boulevard. And after about a week, I had about 200 people from the area there asking where they're going to buy their milk and bread and what have you and why hasn't the City done anything? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: -- Beach's, Big Saver, Rosemead Supermarket on the same location -- (Jeering.) MAYOR IMPERIAL: Give me the courtesy, please. Give me a courtesy, please. If you have to shoot your mouth off, would you do it outside so I can finish. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Have some integrity. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Number two, now something that hasn't been mentioned is Rosemead Boulevard. And we've had the busiest highway around, and yet we've had people moving in and out of there, and nobody has ever YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 81 .9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 complained. Not one time. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Put it on Valley and Temple, then. Yeah, you heard me. THE CLERK: Miss Ikurosaki. Patricia Medina. Paul Thompson. Celia Nishimura. THE CLERK: Miss Medina. MS. MEDINA: Thank you. My name is Patricia Medina. I live at 3547 Marybeth, and I am a resident, a voting member of the City of Rosemead. One of the things that I'm concerned about is the fact that to address my -- other citizen that mentioned that he was concerned about us not having a supermarket or that we weren't being fair. When the other Kmart or Target was built, they're four -lane highways. There is four lanes. There is not two lanes. So the issue of traffic, plus the fact that they're right off of the freeway and a straight thoroughfare all the way up, plus the fact that the Kmart is in Temple City, not Rosemead. But just to identify the fact that I don't only represent myself in the City of Rosemead, but I represent 1300 residents in the City of Rosemead as homecare workers that have difficulty with traffic, getting to and from work, running errands for senior citizens, taking care of disabled vets. These are things that are my concern, as a representative for YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 ME 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 them. Just like you are my representative and are concerned about the issues that I have. They couldn't be here tonight because they're taking care of elderly, sick, disabled people that need their help. So I'm here to represent them in saying that we don't need traffic in that area. There is a lot of senior housing. There is a lot of children with disabilities in that area that -- there is enough traffic in that area, enough where Delta is and where the Southern California Edison -- there is drag racing by the kids from the high school all the time. No offense, guys, but there is. And Don Bosco has an enormous amount of traffic. And I'm sure that with Wal-Mart coming in, we're going to have much more traffic than our streets can handle. I used to be a resident of Alhambra, and I'm sure you're well aware of the Long Beach Freeway and Valley and the difficulties that they had. So if we're talking about just one on-ramp, what's going to happen with San Gabriel, the 60 Freeway, Rosemead, and all the traffic that we have coming to and from the 10 and the 60? And so I leave you with a lot of work to do, gentlemen and lady. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Mr. Thompson. He's absent this YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 1H 1 L 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 evening, but to be represented by Mr. Flournoy. MR. FLOURNOY: Thank you. Mr. Thompson is away today as a matter of conscious. He's heartsick. Anyway, I want to call your attention to the nice talk that Paul Saito and Jim Flournoy did. Anyway, I want to draw your attention to the report done by Geotechnical Professionals, which is a very fine civil engineering program. And on the face of that document, it refers to a report by Perry Elly that Paul Saito mentioned. And right on the face of it, it says, "We're not looking at this." Well, what Mr. Elly mentions in the document, in the back of that Geotechnical Professionals document, is that he claims Perry Elly, Dr. Elly, was professor at Cal State, and he's a specialist on landslides. He claims that the east side of the property, east side of the fault, is the subject of a horizontal landslide, that that whole area has the capability of sliding in towards the Rio Hondo River. And he recommends that certain measures be taken -- hard hat down in the hole to look at for a typical layer of clay allowed to slide using a flight auger to check this out. Without that investigation, the east side of the fault is not capable of building anything. You could put a park there, and that's about all you can do with it. No Panda Express. It's not going to be a gas YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 station. There is not going to be a mini mall.There is not going to be anything on the east side of the -- The other thing, on the face of the document, it says we're not going to study Alhambra wash fault. I think Mr. Flournoy also mentions both those items, which are very clear on the face of the document, disqualifies the mapping document. And Arroyo Geotechnical did not quite properly certify, that the very problem we'have is that the Arroyo response -- in their response, in going back and trying to hatch up and make a silk purse out of a sow's ear here, since you've got a good civil engineering document, this is not a seismic hazard mapping act report and nobody can make it one without doing these other studies. And Mr. -- the Arroyo people that reviewed this quite properly did not endorse it. And you cannot vote on this project until you have one. Two other little quicky things. There is no agency agreement with the sheriff's department on the issue of parking in the -- I'll turn those in later. Thank you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you very much. THE CLERK: Mr. Flournoy, as you are representing an absent Mr. Thompson -- MR. FLOURNOY: Paul Thompson on Scenic Drive. THE CLERK: Do you have a written statement to YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 sM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 present? MR. FLOURNOY: He did not give me one. He can turn one in when he gets back. MR. WALLIN: May I point out that the rules for procedures to be set forth specifically state speakers shall not be permitted to defer their allotted three minutes from one person to another person. MR. FLOURNOY: I appreciate the courtesy. I'm through. I'm going to cut off right now. Thank you. He can speak for himself. He's the most thorough guy I know. He showed me most of this stuff so -- THE CLERK: The following three speakers, please step up to the microphone. Celia Nishimura. Marlene Shinen. And Yuki Fukumoto. THE CLERK: Miss Nishimura. MS. NISHIMURA: My name is Celia Nishimura. I live at 1634 North Delta in South San Gabriel. I just want it on record that I'm totally opposed to the Wal-Mart on this site for mainly health and safety reasons. I mean, you're going to destroy our community. And I just want to know why Mr. Imperial, Mr. Taylor, and Mrs. Clark refused to listen to the people? THE CLERK: Miss Shinen. MS. SHINEN: Good evening, City Council. My name is Marlene Shinen. I live at 8447 Drayer Lane, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 91 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 South San Gabriel. I'm here because you're putting this right in my neighborhood. I received no response, also, from my written statement regarding the revised EIR, just for the record. And also, regarding the first EIR, Judge Yaffe said it best, it was a political ruse to trick the people. A sham. The revised EIR is also a sham. This senior City Council has had no regard for the people. As proposed, the site is 83 yards -- not a half a mile -- 83 yards from an elementary school. The loading dock is 100 feet from the bedrooms of people in established townhomes. You people over there, you would not want to move next to the loading dock of a Wal-Mart super store. Be honest about it. These are your people. This is not South San Gabriel. This is Rosemead people. This is going to be right in their yard. This Council loves the money. They want this money for the city. The people have not been tricked, the City Council has been deceived. There is no integrity in the City Council, beginning with the Mayor. Mayor Imperial was squawking, a few Council sessions ago, regarding 35 people that signed a petition in his neighborhood. He was having a complete fit because he knows that area. Well, what about the 3500 -plus who signed the petition and are out -- why don't you listen to all of the people that will be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 92 a c 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 affected, the hurting people? And who fed the people in the yellow shirts over there? Wal-Mart. THE CLERK: Yuki Fukumoto. Brian Lewin. Helen Arriola. MR. FUKUMOTO: My name is Yuki Fukumoto, and I'm a voting resident. When I'm allowed to vote, I do vote. Fifteen months ago, I addressed this Council,'and this is about the original EIR. At that time there were unacceptable levels. None of -- these environmental impacts, traffic, noise, and the pollution, were unacceptable levels. And it's still unacceptable. The second EIR only addresses alternative sites. All you did was pit one community against another community to have to accept unacceptable levels of pollution, traffic, and noise. So that's the thing. Nothing has really changed. The school is still there. The freeway, 60, is still an "F." The 10 is still an "F." The Rosemead roads can't accommodate the 18 -wheelers, so nothing has changed. So I ask you to reject the revised EIR. There is one thing that's different. Fifteen months ago when I addressed this Council, there were five Councilmembers who voted for the project. Tonight, two have been replaced, and two are pending. What I ask YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 �1 t 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you is think about your political careers. Do you really -- the issue really comes down to quality of life or a store. The quality of life, to have a peaceful and tranquil community, or a store. So think about your political obituary. When you think about it, do you really want it to end because you wanted a store? (Applause.) THE CLERK: Mr. Lewin. MR. LEWIN: Okay. First of all, before I begin my allotted time -- can you hear me okay? Okay. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Louder. No. Louder. MR. LEWIN: Before I begin my allotted time, I have a question. Normal procedure in City Council meetings is to have oral communications from the audience, period. It appears that we do not have that tonight. But there is an issue I would like to address. It is peripherally related to this issue. MR. WALLIN: We are going to.have that at the very end. MR. LEWIN: Huh? MR. WALLIN: At the end after we finish this. MR. LEWIN: Okay. Thank you. Then I will address that topic at the end of the night, then. Okay. Now, first of all, I would note that I also wrote a comment letter, as did my mother. Neither YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 -of us have received, to date, any form of any communication from United Planning at all. Nothing. And I also understand that they were -- that they failed to have the results of that within the allotted 10 -day period that is required for this hearing. I would like to state that, for the record. Okay. Now, the gentleman from Applied Planning mentioned, as if it were supposed to be some great achievement, that they have -- with these reports -- or with this report, they have now done 13 or 12 alternative site analyses. What he neglected to mention is, is that the first nine were a joke. The judge threw them out and called them a sham. Those are irrelevant. They did three, at least one of which, on the face of it, failed to meet the basic criteria for the site and was therefore doomed to condemnation anyway. So on the face of that,.this report should be thrown out. Okay. My particular point, however, is on the Garvey site. And some of my arguments, I point out that it does, in fact, reduce some of the environmental impacts on the project as required by CEQA. They claim that the environmental impacts would, at best, be transferred. They said this in the original environmental report, and they said this in rebuttal to my comments, which I was only able to get by accessing YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the Internet, because I was not told that they were available by anyone at their organization. Okay. I would point out that there was a very fundamental difference between half a mile from the school and 85 feet or 85 yards. I don't see how that does not qualify as an impact that was transferred. That is reduced impact. It is a clearly reduced impact. You stand 80 feet away from three semi -trucks belching out fumes and you stand half a mile away, and you try to tell me those are the same. I don't think SO. And furthermore, the parks usage in there, they're talking about that the usage of the original Garvey site is closer. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Your time is coming close now, so would you please finish up. MR. LEWIN: Okay. Okay. I would like to finish up just by making one very quick point on the other fact that there is also a fundamental difference between a site that was designated commercial, was operated as commercial for several decades, the Garvey site, as opposed to a recently rezoned commercial site that is located in what is otherwise a light -- business/light industrial and residential school area. Thank you very much. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 UT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Applause.) THE CLERK: Miss Arriola. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Just a minute, please. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: May I speak, please? I would like to ask the question as to why there weren't responses to the people that wrote comments? MR. WALLIN: The CEQA requires that we provide any public agency that has commented on our draft EIR a response at least 10 days prior_to recertification or certification. There is no requirement that we send responses to the individuals who submitted them, but we do have to respond in the final EIR. So everybody who wrote a letter, we responded in the final EIR. We also notified everybody who wrote a letter that the final EIR was available. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: No, you did not. MR. WALLIN: Like Mr. Lewin had to go online and found the response to his letter. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: But they were notified by mail. anything. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You did not. No one did MR. JOHNSON: We sent out over 1400 courtesy .YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 97 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 note cards. Many of the names that I hear in the audience tonight, as they speak saying their last name, I recognize from that list. I believe those of them, if not most of them, were on there. Well, the Postal Service got every one to every household. Some of those were returned to City Hall and not deliverable, for whatever reason. With the 1500 names we had on our list to send them out a courtesy card, with the web site -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The Postal Service just happened to lose all of ours? Amazing, I must say. Or did you forget to put stamps? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Next. THE CLERK: Helen Arriola. Reinhart Collier. And Maria Godoy. THE CLERK: Miss Arriola. Miss Arriola. Mr. Collier. Miss.Godoy. MS. GODOY: Good evening, my name is Maria Godoy. I live.at 3612 Rio Hondo Avenue, Rosemead. Very briefly, I oppose the building of a Wal-Mart of any size in my city for all the reasons already stated. I am extremely disappointed in this City Council. When you stop representing the interests of your constituents and start supporting the interests of corporate America, it is time for you to leave. By the way, I have been a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 W 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 resident of Rosemead for 30 years, and I am a registered voter. Thank you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Next. THE CLERK: Armand Briscoe and Ben Lin. Mr. Briscoe. Mr. Lin. MR. LIN: Councilmembers, my name is Ben Lin. I'm a senior citizen who used to live in Philadelphia. I came to Southern California to relocate and picked Rosemead to live, possibly die here, because this is, to me, one of the most livable places on earth. And my property is just half a block from the proposed site. It is a residential area. By definition, it is a place where people live, people play, people go to school. And if we allow a super store like Wal-Mart to go in there, we're going to destroy the tranquility, the peace, and the quiet. We can no longer walk the street without being worried about being hit by a car. We can -- air filling our lungs with poison. And, you know, we talk about profit and -- let me remind you something -- more than this materialism. It is the quality of life. And we who love and live here don't want to lose that to a corporate like Wal-Mart. Let me remind Councilmembers, if I may quote something, "What does it profit a man if YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 he gains the whole world but lose his own soul?" (Applause.) THE CLERK: Jim Clouet, Valerie Basquett. Irene Briscoe. Mr. Clouet, you are the first speaker. MR. CLOUET: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Councilmembers. Jim Clouet, 3719 Ivar Avenue, Rosemead. I'm also a candidate for City Council. I have more of a question than a statement. I would like to ask the Council, and I would like to ask everybody in this room, is this worth it -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: Yes. Yes. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS: No. No. MR. CLOUET: Let me finish the question. Is it worth it for $60,000 a month? Is it worth it to turn one of, I think, the nicest places in Rosemead into a chunk of Garvey? Is it worth it to'cut off -- and I travel down Walnut Grove to get on the 60. Is it worth it to cut off that access, because no one will want to go that way anymore? Is it worth it to drop 12,000 trips a day next to a school, and all of the diesel emissions that have been proven? And I've worked for the Air Quality Management for 20 years. Is it worth it? Does it have to go in the program parameters to YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that -- to get that $60,000? Because if it wasn't for the $60,000, it could go next to Rosemead. It wouldn't be any farther of a drive. But it wouldn't have this impact. Is it worth it, for that amount of money, to split this city to create people who once walked together as friends who can't talk to each other anymore? Is it worth it for $60,000 a month? Is it worth it when the two Councilmembers are thrown off the Council, two more are on recall, one more is threatened? Is it worth it? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You did it. You did it. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No, you did it. MR. CLOUET: And that's a question you have to answer. But $60,000 a month? I don't live down there. 'I live up here next to City Hall. But I think it's the nicest place in Rosemead, and I wish everybody would really think about it. THE CLERK: Miss Basquett. Miss Briscoe. Linda Kilpatrick. Juan Hunter or Miss Kilpatrick. To follow will be Mr. Juan Hunter and Rebecca Rangel. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Joan. THE CLERK: Apologize. Joan Hunter. MS. KILPATRICK: My name is Linda Kilpatrick, and I'm a 32 -year resident of Rosemead. And yes, I do YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 101 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2= 24 2` vote. I want to thank the Rosemead City Council for your time and effort regarding this issue. I especially would like to thank Jay Imperial, Gary Taylor, and Margaret Clark for your diligence, your faithfulness, your patience, and the pride you have shown over the years in shepherding Rosemead, in watching over the City and her best interests. Over the last 16 months, polls have shown that Rosemead residents, indeed, voted 2 to 1 in favor of Wal-Mart. Rosemead needs Wal-Mart. The City needs the revenue from the taxes that would be generated if the store came to Rosemead. The State Legislature -- quiet, please. The State Legislature has confiscated $1.25 million from Rosemead City Treasury this year. And to fight the State deficit last year, they took 122,000. In the next two years, they will take 1.4 million again. We need the revenue that Rosemead will generate -- excuse me -- that Wal-Mart will generate for the City. We need the jobs -- quiet. We need the jobs that Wal-Mart will generate. Per the EIR requirements, to look for alternate sites, findings are that the Walnut Grove site is the only available property that is adequate for the Wal-Mart site. It has 24 acres of undeveloped land. There are no other suitable sites in Rosemead that are YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 102 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 large enough or that would not necessitate taking private property. There is the "no Wal-Mart" opposition that I have witnessed in City meetings, in the Council meetings. They are rude, obnoxious, raucous, pointing and yelling at the different Councilmembers to "shut up." Then there is the silent majority. The silent Majority are our neighbors that are -- that actually do live in Rosemead and that would like to see a Wal-Mart in our area and are shaking their heads in dismay -- that are shaking their heads in dismay at the colossal misbehavior of the "no Wal-Mart" people and their subterfuge and the misdirection and the misinformation in order to get their votes. I encourage you, City Councilmembers, to do what you have always done so well in the past. To guide us with diligence and pride. I urge you to adopt the revisions of the draft to the EIR that will allow Rosemead and the surrounding communities to benefit. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Miss Hunter. MS. HUNTER: Mayor Jay Imperial and Members of the City Council, my name is Joan Hunter. And I have lived in Rosemead for 45 years. I would like to play YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 103 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the town crier and say, "Here ye, here ye, all Rosemead citizens, listen to what this City Council is trying to do for this community." Let's stop all these two-sided arguments and let Jay, Gary, and Margaret do the job they were elected to do and which they have done in the many years. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Let's keep it quiet. MS. HUNTER: I am proud in how they have stood their ground, even if it meant a recall. This is the thanks they get to all their dedication to all of you, the people. Tonight we are here for the EIR hearing. Let's do just that. Let's hear and let's listen. Wal-Mart followed through with the necessary changes dictated by Judge Yaffe, so -- the City should and did comply with the ruling, so they need to do the right thing and vote to approve the EIR. Now, the Council should approve the construction of Wal-Mart to begin. Rosemead residents are excited about a new super center, and the Council should give the citizens what they want. The small amount of citizens -- and they are small in the way they are handling themselves -- and the union political machine must not stop this democratic will. There has been too much controversy about big -box retailers, created mostly by the unions. There 104 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 is value of them being part of a community. They create jobs, which is valuable in a community such as ours. I do not understand unions that want to keep unemployment high. I thought they were for creating jobs. Retailers bring in sales tax, which helps the economic growth of the community. I believe all the people coming into our town to shop at Wal-Mart will pass the businesses here and stop and shop at these stores. We have some great places to shop: Target, Linens N' Things and so forth. We need good economic development for our city. We, as a community, have to work to create more jobs and create spending money that creates money for community infrastructure. Please do not listen to these fear tactics of the anti -business unions and individuals. You have a duty to protect the interest of the Rosemead residents and deliver the Wal-Mart you promised. Approve the EIR. Thank you. (Applause and jeering.) THE CLERK: Rebecca Rangel. Rosey Licerio. John Davidson. Miss Rangel. MS. LICERIO: Thank you, everybody, the City Council and Mayor Imperial. I'm a resident of Rosemead and demand and request that the City Council do their YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 k11161 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 job. For two years, the City Council promised me, as a resident of Rosemead, that we were going to get our Wal-Mart super center. Stalling must stop today. This Council must vote in favor of 'the revised EIR so we can sooner enjoy our Wal-Mart. You already know the benefits of the Wal-Mart to the City; the tax revenue it will generate, the jobs it will create, the business it will bring in. You also know that Wal-Mart provides quality goods and low costs to our City. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Security, would you try to keep that down over there to give somebody the courtesy to talk. Thank you. MS. LICERIO: Like I was saying, quality goods for low costs that our City, a city of working-class families need. As a mother, I need a place where I can shop for goods and take advantage of discounts. Wal-Mart will provide that for me with this super center. I will no longer need to go to Temple City, San Gabriel, Alhambra, to do my grocery shopping. With Wal-Mart, I can better save and spend my money helping my family stretch each dollar to its effectiveness. I'm excited about this project. So, please, I ask this Council, do not let my excitement be in vain. Vote in favor for the revised EIR. I know there are some pressures from the small and YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 106 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 rowdy minorities that want to stop the project for their own selfish reasons. Well, Council, remember that they do not represent this city. It's people like me, working families, that are majority of what -- and we want our Wal-Mart. So Council, stop dillydallying and give us our Wal-Mart. I still have my three minutes. I do also want to come today and speak and say that I really want to thank the City Council for doing a great job and listening to the people of Rosemead. I still have my three minutes. I also want to thank Maggie Clark. You've been put in a very difficult position with all of this. And as everybody here can tell is, we really do appreciate you. You are the sweetheart of Rosemead. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Mr. Davidson. To follow is Mary Ellen Dundas and Jean Hall. MR. DAVIDSON: Hello, my name is John Davidson. I first came here to Rosemead 40 years ago with two small children, and there were lots of avocado trees and so on. And I thought maybe I would get a veteran house. I'm a World War II veteran. I'm proud of what our City Council has tried to do. I mean, it's vilification and what I call a big lie, the bigger lie. The better is YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 107 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 what I hear now -- listen people, democracy involves respecting people. I don't see very much respect. And people, you have -- a report made very carefully and -- all you come up with is different things about, listen, I live up there on -- what is it? -- Delta and at the top of the hill there. And I've seen that lot there vacant for many years. And we felt the high rise buildings in Southern California Edison, all of this has come in. Now, if there is an earthquake, all these machines and these buildings are all around, too -- and I think Wal-Mart will stay at one floor, at least. And I think all this business about this terrible pollution -- I mean, San Gabriel Boulevard used to be two lanes and dirt road. Now it's four lanes. I'm having a hard time getting used to it. And listen, we love our elderly people and our senior center. They could walk over to this Wal-Mart possibly. They live by it -- they live by this terrible house that has all the graffiti on it. And I do, too. Now, let me tell you, we can't blame everything on Wal-Mart. Because actually, I know across the country there is Target, because they are a large enterprise -- and they don't do things perfectly. None of them do. But why not pick on everything wherever? YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 L 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 You realize we are a growing city, and the wonderful development we've had, we have seen these Councilmen here -- you want to retail and you want to circulate the petition on them. All sorts of things that are not true. If this is democracy, people, what did we fight for in World War II? We want a democracy where you can -- and people can talk and speak. The way you shut down the people, the complete discourtesy and the attacks on people. I think people should rethink this. We have Godly people up here that have served for many years. They have -- they're not perfect. They make mistakes. But listen, I don't want a city where certain people think they're the judge. Let's go to the courts and see what they say. Now, let me tell you, these lies are not going to work. And this gentleman over here that thinks that these people up here are the devil, that's not true. They love God, and so do I. And I'm willing to say that. Okay. That's freedom of speech. That's why people came from China here, to get freedom. Praise the Lord. THE CLERK: Mary Ellen Dundas. MS. DUNDAS: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council, I have known Jay, Gary -- Jay and Gary for more than half of my life. They, along with Maggie, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 109 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 have my full support. It's very disheartening for me, as a long-time voting resident, to see the changes that have taken place over the past two years. The dissent of Rosemead residents and non -Rosemead residents over Wal-Mart is one thing. However, I am totally disgusted with the people that have let themselves become so brainwashed by the unions that they are willing to crucify honest and honorable Councilmen such as Jay, Gary, and to have the unmitigated gall to flip Maggie again tonight. Recall elections do have a place in our judicial system. However, this situation does not qualify for a recall. Neither Jay nor Gary nor Maggie have done anything illegal, immoral, or improper. Quite the contrary -- pardon me. It's my turn to speak. Quite the contrary, they have given of themselves up to provide the City where pride is justified. In case some of you have forgotten, our City motto, "Rosemead, where city pride is justified." They are the quintessential examples of how leaders should conduct themselves. I'm a union member. In fact, I'm a union representative for my school: However, I would not -- never let the union dictate how I vote or behave, some special-interest group tells me to vote. I can't emphasize strongly enough that the Council should YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 110 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 approve the results of the EIR. There are no other viable sites for Wal-Mart within the city limits. Rosemead needs Wal-Mart. And I might add, I do not consider myself uneducated. One official, in particular, shot herself in the foot, so to speak. I think she will -- if she thinks anyone will still vote for her in upcoming elections, she has another thing coming. Hopefully that big -box spoken about earlier this year will soon be an early big gift box for the city. This project is supported by the majority of Rosemead residents. This is the last step in moving towards that project. Let's get this done and over with and let us begin to heal and move on with our lives. Jay, Gary, and Maggie, as well as the other Councilmembers, have a duty to protect the human as well as the political interests of the people of Rosemead. God bless America, and thank you all. THE CLERK: Jean Hall. Fred Herrera. And Stuart York. MS. HALL: Good evening, Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is Jean Hall, and I have lived in Rosemead for 50 years and have been supportive of the actions of City Council. Tonight is, again, a chance for you, the Council, to do the right thing for YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 111 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 s 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Rosemead. We're here tonight to witness the long-awaited passing of the final corrections required in the EIR, which is necessary for the start of the construction of the Rosemead Wal-Mart. This has been a long, tedious process. I applaud the Council's patience, courage, and fortitude. And despite the personal attacks on you, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem Gary Taylor, and Councilwoman Maggie Clark, the three of you have shown dignity and wisdom by responding to the will and the people of Rosemead. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Not all of them. MS. HALL: After witnessing the opposition's boisterous behavior at last week's Council meeting, it truly shows the character of this group. They have time and time again declared that they have not been allowed to be heard. Well, Mr. Mayor, you provided them with an open forum to express their feeling. And even still, they are continuing to be loud, rude, disruptive, disorderly, and disrespectful. MR. BEVINGTON: Mr. Mayor, when are you going stop these personal attacks on people? MS. HALL: After their loud -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Please be quiet. MS. HALL: After their loud, spontaneous YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 112 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 outburst, it was clear that loud voices do not signify a true majority. At this point it was obvious that there was a lack of credence to their point of view. I am here tonight, as one voice of many, to support your approval of the final EIR revision. Any further legal challenges by outside interests must stop. Let the will of the people of Rosemead be granted. They are counting on you, the Council, to do as you always do, and that is what is good for the betterment of Rosemead. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Mr. Herrera. MR. HERRERA: Good evening. I don't know if anybody mentioned this or not, but I think the high school did one hell of a job with the decorations. A round of applause. Thank you so much. I'm Fred Herrera, a long resident of Rosemead, as you guys know. I'm here to urge the Council to adopt the EIR as presented with the revisions. They've complied with the law and what I believe is a good report. And I'm sure you'll agree. I'm talking, of course, to Gary, Jay, and Maggie, because you're the only ones that will vote ethically. (Jeering.) MR. HERRERA: You're the only ones that represent the other 50,000 residents of Rosemead that, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 113 1 2 3 4_ 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 by a vast majority, want this project and want it quickly. I urge you to adopt the EIR as quickly as possible and let us have our Wal-Mart. You've heard from a lot of boisterous people here, which breaks into two camps. This is one camp which I think'are good people, and they feel that they're protecting their neighborhood, the kids; but just don't want Wal-Mart where it is. They've been successful in stopping other projects in the past of occupying the piece of land through lies and coercion, and I expect -- you three -- doing what they were paid to do by the union, don't see -- there is two camps which started out with a just and good cause, but have been perverted by the second camp, the unions. The unions are opposing this project not because they represent the interest of the downtroddened, underpaid workers at Wal-Mart, those people have the option of joining the union if they wish, and choose not to. It's a free right to join the union. They have made a conscious decision not to do that. The unions are trying to force Wal-Mart into becoming a union shop. That's the second camp. That's the one that's funding the boisterous outcries that you're hearing today and the campaign that cost us two competent people. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 114 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The recall that is a slap in the face of the residents of Rosemead and the people that deserve much better. Those unions are doing this not because they're representing the interest of those poor, hard-working people. There are approximately 1.2 million employees of Wal-Mart in the United States, that's not counting the other countries, if those people paid $10 a month, which is a conservative estimate. The unions stand to make $12 million a month. $12 million a month. That's what this is about, ladies and gentlemen. Not your houses. Not your neighborhood. Not -- illegal aliens. It's about $12 million a month. And they're using you to accomplish it. If Wal-Mart were to go union, your values are going to evaporate like a fog in the desert. They would drop you like a hot rock. They don't care about you and they don't care about Rosemead. That's the worst part.. I urge you to adopt thi's EIR. I urge you to let us have the Wal-Mart that the vast majority of people in this city want. And I will continue to support you, like I always have, with my vote, with my money, with my feet, and with. my heart. Good luck. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Stuart York. Alicia Martinez. Maribel Martinez. Mr. York. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 k9V 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. YORK: Yes. Thank you. Mayor Imperial, Members of the Council, I stand here to ask you to vote for the revised EIR. I also stand here, very proudly, to support Wal-Mart coming to Rosemead. A few weeks back, the world watched in horror as two hurricanes devastated the southern part of the United States. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Is this about alternative sites? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Keep it down. MR. YORK: We watched the chaos. We watched the destruction that took place. And we watched Wal-Mart lead the world. As we stood and watched them with their trucks and all of their employees showing up, Wall Street Journal, even Wake Up America said it was Wal-Mart who -- not the government, not FEMA, not the state government, but it was Wal-Mart who was there first with blankets and food and baby food and pharmacy. They were there. That kind of spirit, that kind of compassion, that kind of commitment is welcome in Rosemead. When we take a look at the needs of this community, we see the opportunity to reach real needs that are here. I have the privilege of being born in Arkansas, and I knew Sam Walton before he started Wal-Mart. I know the dream he had. To make available YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 116 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for people, like the lady who spoke a while ago, to stretch her dollar to take care of her family. That's what it was for. Oh, yeah. We have -- the city is going to receive taxes, they're going to get some taxes. And certainly, that helps. That's not the main reason to have Wal-Mart. The jobs that people want to bad mouth about Wal-Mart jobs, dragging up some statistics that have long been refuted and proven to be false about Wal -Mart's effect on the economy, that's already been proven to be false. I'll tell you what. When those 600 jobs go open, the line -- there will be 3,000 people in line wanting those jobs that nobody wants. They'll be there. But the people that are really going to benefit by your support of Wal-Mart are the people on fixed income, the senior citizens who are trying to live with some dignity. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Would you please give him the dignity and give him the opportunity to speak UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You're supposed to control the speaker. He is not talking. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You're the biggest problem. MR. YORK: That's okay, Jay. I understand where they're coming from. That's okay. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah. Let him talk. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 278-1333 117 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Shut up. Jesus. MR. YORK: -- dignity. The young parents who are starting a new family and trying to make ends meet. The single moms and dads who are trying to take care of their kids because they have to work two jobs to do it, and they can get the basic necessities and the foods at affordable prices. That's the real reason to let Wal-Mart come to Rosemead. It's been said -- it's been said that -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Time's up. MR. YORK: It's been said that politicians vote to be popular, statesmen vote to be right. Jay, Gary, Maggie, thank you for being statesmen. Keep up the good work. THE CLERK: Alicia Martinez. Alicia. Maribel Martinez. MS. MARTINEZ: Good evening. My name is Maribel Martinez. I live at 2454 North Muscatel. I am a registered voter. I am a single mother, and my daughter does attend Rice School. I am very concerned about Wal-Mart being put where it's being put. Looking on the other side of this auditorium, I don't see any of young parents here. I don't think none of your children go to these schools, so it's not a concern to you. But it is a major concern to me. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 EEE. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 I went to Rice School, I went to Fern School, I went to San Gabriel. And where I live, I live right by the Edison building and the golf course and the Whittier Narrows -- the golf course and the wetland. I'm a real advocate of nature and whatnot. And I honestly think you guys should look to putting a Wal-Mart somewhere else. I don't think Wal-Mart is a problem. I think Wal-Mart is a problem now because where you want to put it. You want to put it near the schools. Now, I drove up and down the city like there is no tomorrow. You have problems; traffic on Garvey, you have traffic on Valley, you have traffic on San Gabriel, you have traffic on Rosemead. Our only safe haven to get around the city is Walnut Grove. The only time Walnut Grove is full of traffic is when the people who work at Edison, at the Countrywide, at the Panda restaurant group are leaving work. That's the only time you encounter traffic on Walnut Grove. I also don't think the people who live on the north side of the freeway should have a.say-so on the Wal-Mart, because it's not in their backyard. It's in my backyard. Let the people who live south of the freeway have the vote. Let us decide. We live there. You do not. So what does it -- does it concern you? I don't think it really does. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 119 F i 8 C 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Also, you speak about the future. What about the stores that are already established here? I shop at Beach's. Why can't you shop at Beach's? There is also Delmar Foods. There is Big Saver. What's going to happen to all these shops when Wal-Mart comes in? You said it. Wal-Mart is a major corporation. They're a monopoly. And by allowing them to come in, we're just helping them grow again. My opinion is I don't think Wal -Martis a problem. I think the site is the major problem. You should put a park there. Do you realize how many people walk up and down the -- and are constantly walking down my street? I mean, why don't you do something positive and protect it. People who live on the north side of Rosemead have Rosemead Park. What do we have? We don't have nothing. Garvey Park, what does Garvey Park have? Why do you have a station there? Because of gang members in that area where I live, there happens to be. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you very much. Your time is up. THE CLERK: The next speakers are Jeff Lewin, Cheryl Moreno, and Cory Briggs. Mr. Lewin. MR. LEWIN: Yes, I would agree with the speaker over there that the City Council needs to be YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 120 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 statesmen, because thev need to consider the environment. I mean, it's wonderful to have a store, but if that store causes problems for school children, it causes problems for people who live in the area, it causes problems for the people who work at Wal-Mart, then you need to override your concern for money and consider the actual impact of that store at that location, and think of other places that this store could be built that would not have such a serious detrimental effect on the environment. Thank you. THE CLERK: Cheryl Moreno. Cory Briggs. MR. BRIGGS: Yes. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and City Council. My name is Cory Briggs. I'm the attorney for Save Our Community in the lawsuit that we're here talking about tonight. And I must say, I've been to meetings and hearings with a lot of government agencies and developers that I've sued over the years, and I'm relieved not to be the most hated person in the room tonight. Anyways, I just want to clarify a few things, whether it's approved or not. There is still more to deal with the courts on this. I just want to clarify for those who still have an open mind. First, the Court has not approved recirculation of the EIR. The Court has not approved that. And the fact that there are Councilmembers asking 121 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 278-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 for more time simply proves why this should have been circulated under the proper time limits. Secondly, the 24-hour covenant has not been approved by the Court. The Court said that the failure to analyze impacts based on 24 -hours was a problem under CEQA, that has not happened, and perhaps analyzed at a later date does not get around the CEQA requirements the judge acknowledged the City failed to abide by. Next, there has been no talk about sensitive receptors -- sorry. Next, on avoiding significant impacts. It's not avoiding all significant impacts. You have to look at alternatives that avoid any significant impact. And the analysis that you've done is simply looking at air quality impacts. But other significant impacts, you have not considered. For example, there isn't a school less than a football field away from the L.A. Auction site. That's what you have here. And while you say that there will be the same traffic and same air quality impacts, what you haven't done is figured out what the air quality impacts will be on the kids at the school that's a half a mile away and not merely a hundred yards away. You also haven't looked at the traffic impacts on safety for the kids going to the school -- rather, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 122 1 L 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the kids walking along the street where there is going to be lots of traffic. You would have, at another site, kids half a mile away. Lastly, I don't know whether anybody on the City Council is aware of this, but Wal-Mart is proposing a 24-hour super center in the City of Ontario. That site is about 13 acres. In the analysis that's been done here, the minimum size has been 18 or 19 acres in order for this to work. They have the same proposal going in the City of Ontario, and it's a significantly smaller site. You might want to consider sites that are smaller than 18 and are consistent with the size of a project that Wal-Mart is willing to build. Thank you. THE CLERK: Stanley Wong. Todd Kunioka. And David Lester. Mr. Wong. Okay. Mr. Kunioka. MR. KUNIOKA: Okay. All right. Obviously, most of the points have been covered. There is a few things I want to do very quickly. First, that just seven days to look at the response of the comments is really too short. I mean, we've got full time -- since it's a part-time Council. Also, and it's not reasonable, even if it's 10 days. There are a lot of comments there, 330 pages, I guess, back there. It YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 123 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 really wasn't time to look at all the information in there. Certainly not from my perspective. The EIR is certainly inadequate certainly in terms of reasonably foreseeable impacts. The 24-hour operation is certainly reasonably foreseeable. And CEQA requires you to do that. There is no exception for CEQA saying, well, if we decide to do it later, we will study it. CEQA says if it's a reasonably foreseeable outcome you will -- you have to study. In terms of the EIR, also, traffic issues, there are some things about this EIR and some information has been handed out by the Wal-Mart supporters that doesn't make sense. We're told -- we were told again today that there is supposed to be $700,000 in sales tax revenue at this site every year. The problem is to produce $700,000 in taxes, revenue is 93.33 million dollars in taxable goods each year -- however, the traffic impact study claims that there will be only be 600 daily trips generated by their project. To get that $93.33 million worth of sales from only 600 visits, you would have to have the average sale something in the neighborhood of about -- where did I write that down? -- $426 for each car that goes into Wal-Mart. That's what it will take to do that. Doesn't seem like a very reasonable assumption. It seems pretty 124 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 G 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 clear. Actually, it will be $700,000 in tax revenue that we're being promised is too high, or the traffic estimate of 600 cars per day is too low. You can't add up those numbers and tell me that this is a reasonable assumption, so something has got to give. In terms of the alternative sites, one of the issues I raised on several alternative sites is public transportation access -- Walnut Grove site has the poorest public access pretty much anywhere in the city, there is just one route that goes there about once an hour, and I raise that in my comments. The response to this was, "Well, we looked at public transit issues, and there wasn't much there at Walnut Grove and Rush," which is exactly.what I said in my comments -- there is pretty muchany other alternative site in the city where public transit access would be better, certainly Montebello Town Center, certainly Garvey Avenue, certainly on Valley and Temple City. So it just doesn't make a lot of sense to try and say that you can't minimize, that you can't substantially reduce the pollution traffic impacts, if you would consider alternative sites. Prettv much any other alternative site would be better in terms of project objectives. MAYOR IMPERIAL: .Thank you. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 125 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. KUNIOKA: All right. I would just like to hand this in, please, and enter it into the record. THE CLERK: Mr. Lester. To follow is Jonathan Tran and Alice Campos. MR. LESTER: I've been a resident since 179 in this city, and this all boils down to republican scumbags with their wanting tax money. The same thing -- oh, before I get started, I would like to show my respects to the President. "Heil, Bush." Now, you say -- or they claim that they're supposed to get 700,000 in tax money. Will these Gestapo have to raise their price to the city 400,000 for .the no police protection they give us? So you need to get rid of the sheriff's department to start, and use the $4 million that you pay these scumbags for our own police force. . Secondly, I've got another suggestion. You can put the Wal-Mart where the school is. Tear the school down, put the Wal-Mart there. If we're losing 800 pupils, I read in the paper, so that's about as many pupils as that school. You don't like that idea, put it on the other side of'Walnut Grove, the biggest waste of land known to man is a golf course. And this is bad. Margaret Clark, one of your 50-vear constituents went and had his house broken into 126 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 this weekend, no help from these bozos. So I would like you to know that. Hiram Shermizer is his name.. He goes to your church. He doesn't live in the city anymore. He lives up north, but he still votes here. So do I. I'm not going to lie to you. I hate this city. I hate these police. And I hate the government. They deserve to get the hell out. You old 30 -year Councilmen get the hell out of here, too. You've been here too long. Give somebody else a chance to screw the government. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Jonathan Tran. Alice Campos. Isabel Sahagun. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Handcuff and take him, Officer. THE CLERK: Edward Avatefi. Miss Campos. MS. SAHAGUN: Good evening. Can you hear me? My name is Isabel Sahagun. I live on 1634 and a half Delta Avenue, right behind the Panda Express building and their parking lot, which means only one building between our homes and the future Wal-Mart. For those people who have talked and talked about let's have our Wal-Mart, well, you can have it. All of it. And please place it really close to you. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 127 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 As for the earthquakes, just for the record, the Panda Express building had cracks of 8 and 10 inches wide. We really thought it was going to come down. For any place, for any building that is in that area, it's terrible. Absolutely terrible. As far as jobs are concerned, I don't -- you talked -- all of you people who want the nice jobs in Rosemead, talk to the people of Wal-Mart. Talk to them about benefits and how Wal=Mart treats them. If you want a job, you want a well-paid job with benefits, not somebody that takes advantage of you at the lower paid end. So talk to them. Talk to the people that work for Wal-Mart, and you're going to be surprised at what they tell you. As far as traffic, try to get out or come in to Delta from San Gabriel right in front of Don Bosco. There is no way you can get in or get out now. As more traffic and the Panda Express -- there is plenty of noise from just one building. When they don't open the gates, they toot their horn until they're.satisfied that somebody comes out to help them, which means that you can hear that horn at least two or three blocks away from the site. If anybody has comments on Wal-Mart and they want it, please do have it. Please take it, and as YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 M F 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 close as possible to you. That's all. (Applause.) THE CLERK: Edward Avatefi. MR. AVATEFI: Hello. My name is Edward Avatefi, and I'm a resident of Rosemead. I have a property on Walnut Grove next to the Dorothy intersection. And for those of you who don't understand where that's at, that's an east/west street in between Helman and Garvey. That is only a three-wav, and it's kind of a blind corner. And I think some of the police officers here can probably testify to the number of accidents that they have probably come to at that intersection. The speed limit is 40 miles an hour. It's kind of a blind intersection. It's pretty dangerous. And I really think that -- forget about the Wal-Mart for right now. It's just we needed a light there a long time ago. And I don't know if you are going to address this issue. I would certainly hope you do. Even if we don't have a Wal-Mart, I think that needs to happen. Louder, guys. Come on. Okay. I have to make a trip every day between 3:30, 4 o'clock to E1 Monte -- to South E1 Monte, and I usually take Garvey. And it usually takes me about 15 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 129 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 or 20 minutes, which should be like a four- or five-minute drive. It's because of the Edison traffic. Nothing against the employees at Edison, but there is a major problem with east/west traffic around the City of Rosemead. The streets that --.1 seem to have all these problems no matter which one I choose, whether it's Helman, Marshall, or Garvey to go east or west -- I'm sorry, to go east around 4 o'clock. 'They're just extremely congested. I think it is very irresponsible to think that you can add a Wal-Mart, and that situation is going to get better. I also want to mention that I like to cook, barbecue in my front yard on Walnut Grove. And when I go to the market, I usually get food that's already prepared, marinated and stuff. And when you think of marinades, you think of spices that you add to it. And I don't remember diesel fluid being part of it. _ The smell of it is just absolutely horrible. When I take a shower in my house, I can smell the diesel fluid coming through -- the diesel fumes coming through the house. It's really -- you know, it's just not a pleasant thing. Rosemead has changed a lot since we first moved there, since we first bought our properties there. And I see now that the freeway exits of Del Mar, San Gabriel, Walnut Grove, and Rosemead -- YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 130 L E 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the last one that's residential is Walnut Grove. That is the absolute last one when you exit off the 10 Freeway. You really don't find -- Del Mar is now a very business area, and so is San Gabriel. And I think you're really going to ruin the last part of this residential neighborhood. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you. MR. AVATEFI: If I could just have one more comment. There are comments, they're saying here that they're.going to add jobs. Okay. For every job that you add, how many do you take away? I oppose the Wal-Mart. THE CLERK: David Perea. Ernesto Perez. Caroline Kunioka. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mr. Perea turned his comments in writing. I think he's left. THE CLERK: Thank you. Mr. Perez, Ernesto. Miss Kunioka, Caroline. MS. KUNIOKA: Hi. My name is Caroline Kunioka, and I live at 8400 Wells Street. I'm disturbed by the allegations that there are no places to buy bread and milk around here. The way you guys talk, you would think this is Mars or New Orleans. I just wanted to tell everybody that what I love about Rosemead and the surrounding areas are all the funny and friendly little 131 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 markets around here. E1 Toro on Garvey has good meat, and they didn't look at me funny when I walked in there the first time. -- Market is walking distance from my house, and their pasta rocks. The new Rosemead Super Market where Ralphs used to be sells plenty of milk and bread, in addition to Asian food. And it's not just all fish heads and octopus. Now, okay, I know I'm Asian. But I speak primarily English. I can order sushi, and that's about it. I go into the Asian markets. I have brave Anglo friends who venture into the scary Asian markets on Valley with the squiggley letters. And I can report to You, the Wonder Bread, the brocolli, milk and eggs, the Ranch 99 is the same and maybe better than at Wal-Mart. You've just got to get over the initial fear, the way I did when I snuck into E1 Toro that first time and Carol's the first time. Everybody at the Asian market is perfectly fine. And being Asian, maybe your change will be correct, too. (Applause.) THE CLERK: There are no more speaker cards. We have no more speaker cards. MAYOR IMPERIAL: At this point I close the public hearing. I'm going to recess the Community Development YOIINGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 132 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Commission, open up the discussion for the Council. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: I guess I'll be first -- go ahead, Gary. Go first. You're the Mayor Pro Tem. Thanks. You know, we did have about at least 50, maybe 60 speakers tonight. And a lot of them have concerns on the environmental impact reports. And again, I would like to ask if we can continue this so we can get back and -- get more clarity, get some answers back to some of the concerns we have for our residents. And it's only 35 days. So I would ask the Council -- and again, I'm pleading to your fairness, to allow us to get back to your residents and allow us to digest all the information. So that's my comments tonight. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Mayor, the many comments that we did hear tonight, I'm sure all of us' have heard that old expression, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." well, that's where we're at. And there were a lot of comments made out there. I would like to just start with the benefits that we will get from a Wal-Mart, about 500 jobs. Nobody wants to give jobs to people unless they're union jobs. So there is -- a median income for a household in Rosemead is about $39,000. 1700 homes in Rosemead do not have a car. There is a real need for a Wal-Mart in the City of YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 133 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Rosemead. We lost the Ralphs store at Valley. We lost the Alpha Beta store a few year ago on Garvey. We lost the Vons store on Garvey near Rosemead Boulevard. They closed the Albertsons over in E1 Monte. And Albertsons is looking for a buyer for the entire company. So a lot of these stores have been closed, and nobody else is coming in. It's not just Rosemead. Some of the other cities, they've got tremendous large stores. Alhambra had an exceptionally large Ralphs up on Garfield and Huntington Drive. But for some reason, we're not that lucky to get a big national chain. It just so happens that Wal-Mart is the largest chain in the nation. They have 4,000 stores. 175 of those stores are in California. And they hire close to 60,000 people in the State of California. So we do need these jobs. And they have over.$1 billion -- that's "B" -- $1 billion in payroll in the State of California. So as far as the benefits they give to the State and the residents, they pay $560 million a year in sales taxes to the different cities. So there is a lot of benefits that we all get from, in this case, the Wal-Mart stores. As you go on down the line with the sales tax, the city's life blood, the primary source is from sales taxes. We have government federal grants, gasoline tax YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 11914 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and such, but we have close to $3 million a year in sales tax. We haven't had a large increase in sales tax in almost 15 years. And the fact that Wal-Mart would come into this community, it's almost a 25 percent increase in the sales tax revenues, which goes to the City General Fund to pay for police, sheriff's service, the parks and recreation, many other programs that benefits the young people, the senior citizens. There is a definite need for this income. I've been a resident here for 58 years, 44 years in Rosemead and 24 years -- excuse me, 14 years in San Gabriel. I.grew up in San Gabriel when St. Anthony's school was built. My entire family, my nine brothers and sister, we all went to St. Anthony's Grammar School. We know a lot of people there that are in favor of the Wal-Mart store. And the fact that there is only two large developments that have gone into the City of Rosemead in the last almost 40 years --'the City has been incorporated for 46 years. And the reason for that, when Mr. Imperial and myself and the other Councilmembers, we were elected on an anti -redevelopment condemnation of homes and businesses. We're totally built out as far as land goes. We're 99 percent of our land is occupied with buildings and such or businesses YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 135 E 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and homes. We get down to this one site. It is the only site in the entire city. And Judge Yaffe, when he made his ruling that we didn't do enough alternative sites, you found out tonight that there are none. Judge Yaffe doesn't -- all right. Judge Yaffe, whenever he made his ruling, he doesn't really have a clue of what's in Rosemead. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Neither do you, Buddy. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Now, you hear those remarks over there. After 58 years, I don't know anything about Rosemead? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No, you don't. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: They just run, run, run, and talk. But anyway, 58 years, and we've had two developments. One was a Kmart down on where the 99 Ranch Market is. The other one, we subsidized that. I wasn't on the Council when it started. The City subsidized that project, and 50 cents on the dollar, and Kmart moved out. We did another subsidy up on the hill there at the car dealer. He was going to bring in millions of dollars to the city. The city gave him $250,000. Within three years, they were gone. So there is a reason that we try to get businesses into the community. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 119 E E g 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The comment is made that, well, a lot of our businesses, they're just people moving into old businesses or buildings. Target moved into Montgomery Ward, Levitz moved into Toys 'R Us, now we have an Opportunity to bring in another large national chain into the City of Rosemead. We want grocery stores. We want better shopping. We have a chance to do that. And all of a sudden, no, we don't want them. We want somebody else. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Put it in your yard. Put it in your neighborhood. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Let's talk about the Garvey site down there. They could build it there. There is 35,000 car trips a day on Garvey there in front of Garvey school. So let's take -- there is 8,000 cars a day on Rush Street, which is a four -lane secondary arterial highway for -the City of Rosemead UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Residential. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Wal-Mart is like any other business. Whether we like it or not, they're entitled to buy property. Edison is entitled to sell property. They have the legal rights to develop that property. Whether we agree with it or not, they have those rights. The Supreme Court ruled in June of this year under the -- I believe it's the Kelo case, K -e -1-o, 137 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (959) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Kelo. The Supreme Court ruled that redeveloping agencies have the power to condemn properties. And they really didn't make a distinction. They can condemn just about any property that they choose to for the financial benefit of the city and the community. We don't have to do that in Rosemead. There is a free enterprise system of a willing seller and a willing buyer, and they have every right to do that. It is zoned C3 Commercial. It allows that development to be there. We did not change the zoning. That's come up a half -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Four times, it's been changed. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: The C3 zone has been there since the 1970s. The general plan amendment was to bring it into conformity. But they still have the right -to go in. and build that in the C3 zone. So we need to do something for the city. There is 55,000 cars -- MAYOR IMPERIAL: Would you knock it off, please: MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: There is 55,000 cars a year -- excuse me, a day on Rosemead Boulevard, 35,000 on Garvey, 20,000 on Walnut Grove. And these are off of the traffic reports that we get when we have to count up 138 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the traffic. There is 27,000 cars on Mission and Valley. So the vacant property down there, the comment comes up, they have every right to develop that property. But everybody else wants to tell them how to develop it. If they were to put in high rise or office buildings, smaller shopping center and such, they could cut the traffic down to maybe 5- or 6,000 cars a day. But they would still have to come in on Walnut Grove and Rush. So then you get down to, well, if they're going to bring .in 6,000 cars, maybe it will be 7-. So you have to start, what's the trade-off, 2- or 3,000 cars? But we need that development for the benefit of the city. And I understand people don't want it there. That's why I say we're between a rock and a hard spot. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Twenty-four hours. Twenty-four hours. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I think I pretty well covered the traffic. One reason we have to pick that site as an alternate site, Judge Yaffe said that in his court transcript, we know that you did the work as far as the alternate sites. You stated there was none as far as the Temple City site. That's a six -acre site. You need to go in and condemn homes, you need to go in 139 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and condemn businesses. And we don't have to do that on Walnut Grove. It is the only site. And when Judge Yaffe gets the report back, he's going to see that we showed 10 or 12 other properties that are not feasible, and they're not reasonable. And we have to put it back into his hands. And I'm sure that when he sees this, when we stated there were no other sites, that's why they had to go back and do this. I think that's all I have, Mr. Mayor. (Applause.) COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Mr. Mayor. I won't reiterate what Gary said, except that I also was elected on an anti -eminent domain. I feel the right to private ownership of property is a basic American right. And the three sites that were studied here, the auto auction, the Robinsons -May, and Temple City would require eminent domain. •They're not really willing sellers, and the Temple City would require taking homes adjacent to the vacant property. So they are not options, in my view. I do want to clarify something that was brought up by two of the speakers, Miss Nishimura and Sandsbury, who said that the residents of Rosemead should vote on this issue. And I mentioned this last week, but I want to get it in the record, because there still is YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 140 E c 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 19 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 evidently some confusion on that. Right after I was reelected in March, I saw the turmoil that is in our city because of this, and I actually thought, you know, let's just get Wal-Mart out on the table. So I went to the opposition leaders and I said -- the first time was if we were willing to put the issue of "Wal-Mart yes" or "Wal-Mart no" on the ballot, would you back off the recall? And if Wal-Mart wins that vote, would you back off and accept its coming? And the various leaders were consulted of the opposition, and the answer came back "No." And the answer was not given except they didn't trust Wal-Mart or something. But -- so then a couple weeks later, I went again to the opposition and I said, Okay. No strings attached. If the city puts this issue on the ballot, we would be required, per State law -- as per State law, to do a full-blown environmental impact report, which is very complicated. But if you, the people, put it on as you're going around with your recall petitions, just have, behind that, a petition to put the issue of Wal-Mart on the ballot "yes" or "no," no strings attached, you don't have to commit to being okay with it if it wins or whatever. And the leaders of the opposition again were consulted, and the answer again YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 141 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 came back "No." So I want that on the record, that that was the answer to my offer on that. And so you cannot really say that we did not let the residents of Rosemead vote on this issue. And so I still don't understand why there was not -- it would have been fairly easy, as you went house to house with the recall petitions, to have that behind it --_ MR. BEVINGTON: What are you talking about, Maggie? I am the leader of this whole thing, and that offer never came anyplace to me and I never said "No." COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Well, I trusted when Mr. Tran told me -- Mr. Tran told me that the leadership had been consulted. I have no control of who went to who. MR. BEVINGTON: It's not true, Councilmember Clark. COUNCILMEMBER TRAM: I'm sorry? COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Remember when we met right after you were elected? COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: We did sit down in Jay's office. We talked about it. And you said you did not want to put it in the ballot. I offered you an opportunity, given the fact that with the change in the Council, you and I sat down in Jay's office and I asked YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 142 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 you, "Maggie, look. Let's let bygones be bygones. Let's put this on the ballot, let the people decide." COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Okay. And I asked the people if they wanted to do it, and you said that after talking to the opposition, they said "No." John, you're rewriting history here. COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: No. No. Not at all, Maggie. I came back and I did talk to their folks. And when I asked, you said "No." We sat down in Jay's office. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I'm not the one that said "No." COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Yes, you did. We sat down in Jay's office. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: John, this is incredible. This is really incredible. You told me that the leaders of the opposition did not want to do that. COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: I said the leaders? COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Yes, you did. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Well, wow. My conversation with you.was after the election, and I asked you, "The residents want to put this in a ballot. Do you want to proceed with it?" And you said, "No." COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: John, I'm sorry. But you're lying. I'm sorry. That's -- YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 143 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (Applause.) COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: The residents wanted an opportunity to vote on it, and you decided not to put it in a ballot, Maggie. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: So why didn't you get them to put it on the ballot, then, if that's what you're saying? MR. BEVINGTON: We tried. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: No. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: So you're saying that -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Estelle -- are you still out there? I would like you to explain what happened. Marlene, you were there. Marlene, are you there? MS. HOLTZ: Maggie, three-fourths of what you say is not true. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Estelle, I can't believe this. I came to your house. And then the second time, we talked on the phone. I can't believe you're saying this. MR. BEVINGTON: We tried to put it on the ballot twice. Let them vote. That's all we ask. MS. HOLTZ: Maggie, you came to -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Can you come to the -- is it okay with the Council if she comes-, or is this not -- YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 144 L E i 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MS. HOLTZ: I don't know why you're using me to absolve yourself, but you've been doing this ever since this thing got started. You came to the back door and you came in and you said -- how did you say that? Okay. We were recalling. You said, "Why don't you put it on the ballot?" And I said, "Maggie, you have the power to put it on the ballot. You put it on." "No, I think that what you should do is you should carry" -- how the heck -- oh, "when you're carrying the recall petition, you also carry this to put it on the ballot," knowing darn well we wouldn't succeed at either one. The people of Rosemead, you mean, they're going to vote for both of those? Maggie, you know what you're doing. You're not Saint Maggie. You've stood on both sides of these guys and pretending that somebody else is guilty for what you're doing. COUNCILMEMSER CLARK: Estelle, you just said exactly what I said. You said while you're doing the recall petition, why don't you have's petition to put "Wal-Mart yes" or "Wal-Mart no." You just confirmed that. MS. HOLTZ: I said -- yeah, because that's -- I said, "Maggie, you put it on the ballot. You stopped the other one with you and crooked Wal-Mart" -- you stopped it after they got it on. You know. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 145 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "No, you have to put it on the ballot. We're going to give you something else, and you give us nothing." But anyway, so you were there to set yourself up a ploy to say, "I went and I suggested that you put it on the ballot." COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: And you refused. You refused, Estelle. Why? Tell me why. MS. HOLTZ: I said, "You are the -- you can easily put it on the ballot if you want to." COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: And I said it would be way delayed because the City has to do a full-blown EIR on it. If the people do it, they don't have to. MS. HOLTZ: It was your job. You stopped the other one. It was your job. You came to my home, you presented this thing. You had no witnesses. And you've used it. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Marlene, was there -- excuse me, Estelle. Marlene was there. MS. SHINEN: I don't remember. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Madam Clark, you know what -- MS. HOLTZ: I don't think you would have brought it up if there was a witness, Maggie. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Oh, Estelle, I can't believe that. That's just incredible. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 146 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: Madam Clark, you -- obviously there is discussion right now with you and Estelle. Let's put a moratorium on it right now. Let's put it on the ballot. We're in public now. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I'm sorry? COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: They should put a moratorium on -- 35 -day moratorium, and let's let the voters -- COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I believe I still have the floor. And the people wanted to get this issue behind us as soon as possible. And I said it would have been much faster if, while you were doing the recall, you just had that petition there. I didn't refuse. I never did. It's just that it would be much quicker. So the conversation is over as far as that goes. And I'll make a motion that we approve the resolutions tonight. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Mayor, can I have the floor as .a point of discussion? I hope that you would hold -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's a Council session. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: -- so that I can speak to this, too. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I made a motion. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: Well, I'm saying you withdraw your motion so that I can speak. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 147 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: No. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I'll second her motion. Now we discuss it. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: All right. Now, I have some questions about this EIR. All right. And we have a lot of -- I have a lot of concerns. I think that this needs to be discussed even further. I know that perhaps you've had three years to look at this or two years, however more, I don't know how much time you spent with the people from Wal-Mart before it came to an official area in the City Council. But again, we talked -- you and I talked about putting it on the agenda, and I said to you at that time that a good time to do it would be right now, to put it in the agenda. Because we're at the place where the ballot -- where we were last September in looking at this whole EIR. And you said -- and I said to you, I said, "This is a good time when we come and redo the whole EIR again, this is a good time to do it." And so, therefore, I'm asking you again, let's put it up for a vote of the people. You've got a Wal-Mart -- you went and got a survey that said 60 percent of the people in Rosemead want this Wal-Mart. Put it on the ballot. Let's get the 60 percent of the people in Rosemead to vote for it. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 148 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Mayor, I would like to explain something here when they say "Put it on the ballot." Now, we have a letter from Mr. Flournoy written to the editor saying that they had spent their own money or there was no outside money coming into Rosemead for this EIR or the recall or the elections, because they're not really aware of what went on with the election. I would like to read you some financial campaign statements of what happened in the last election. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Read the Wal-Mart ones, too. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Will you give him the courtesy of letting him read. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Mayor, the fact is that the unions and the anti Wal-Mart spent more money than Wal-Mart did of the Pride group. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: 75,000. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: All right. Well 92,000 is what the union has put in. And it starts right here, that the SOC PAC, their literature was coming out as fooling the people. This is SOC, Save Our Community. Even though they were two distinct organizations. One was the residents, the other was the money bag. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: What about Pride? YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 149 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Back to the ballot. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Okay. This is why you putting it on the ballot -- this is what happened in the last election when it went on the ballot. SOC PAC, they received from the union -- this is just from the LACO, F of L, COPE, the Committee on Political Education, which is the political arm of the LACO F of L. I'm a member of that union. I've been in the union 48 years, and I'm still paying dues, and then this is how we get paid back. But anyway, there were 56 contributions primarily after the financial disclosures of the election. February 4th was the filing -- excuse me, 24th, was the filing date for the final election campaign statement prior to the election. Then the next statement came in on August the 4th -- August the 3rd, a full,four months afterwards. Excuse me. All this money came in and was not reported until after the election in July. The SOC, S -O -C, PAC, these were in kind contributions that paid for the vast majority of all the literature that was sent out for Mr. Tran, Mr. Nunez, and Polly Low. It's all listed in their campaign statements. And then, like I say, there is 56 of these payments. And they're all thousand -dollars payments, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 150 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 $1,800 payments. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: What's your point? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: The point being is that the residents are not funding these elections, it's the union coming in and funding them. That's the bottom line. Then it goes on. Mr. Tran -- Mr. Tran received $16,500 from COPE. Mr. Nunez received 15- -- 16,515. Mrs. Low received 16,515. That adds up to $65,000 that those four groups received, and they weren't reported until August the 4th. Then it goes on -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Recall. Recall. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: There was another 20,000 that was given by the affiliate unions. So 92,000 -- I want to inject here, also, that Mrs. Romero put in 4,000 out of her campaign fund. Mrs. Chu put in $3,000 out of her campaign fund. So when you say that is the grass-roots organization, that's not true. Unions outspent any other election in the history of this city, and it wasn't grass roots. They have a bone to pick, and they don't want a non-union Wal-Mart, period. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: That's right. Your daughter works for the same company. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I would like to state that for the record. Thank you for bringing it up. There are 1.3 million people that work for Wal-Mart. My 151 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 daughter has worked for Wal-Mart for 11 years now in a management position before Wal-Mart ever was coming to Rosemead. My niece worked for Wal-Mart before Wal-Mart -- oh, you bet it is. My nephew works for them. All of them. All of those before -- UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Are you proud? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I am proud that they're out working and contributing to society, just like maybe 500 other people will get a job when Wal-Mart comes to Rosemead. The fact that she lives in Riverside County, there is no conflict. The trash that went out that my daughter gets paid and we get a kick -back. Yeah, now that's administrative record that went before the judge. I don't have the page number, but that's the kind of go out and attack anybody. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Just like you. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Okay. I stated the facts that I have here before me. So whenever the unions come in and try to corrupt the city -- how do you think some of these people standing up saying -- they're union members, and they're being betrayed. So all I can say is that I would like to put it to a vote, but it's not going to be through the people. It's going to be through the union. They'll come in and put another hundred thousand dollars in. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 152 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. BEVINGTON: So will Wal-Mart. Put it to a vote. That's all we want. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: -There has been a motion and a second, Mr. Mayor. I would like to call for the question. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: The motion is to approve resolution 2005-43 -- can we do them together or can we do them separately? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Let's do them separate. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Do we have a second? I'm sorry. MR. CROWE: Go ahead. THE CLERK: Resolution 2005-43. A resolution of City Council of the City of Rosemead decertifying the environmental impact report for Development Agreement 04-01, General Plan Amendment 03-02, certifying a revised complete final environmental impact report for the same, and denying the appeal relating to certification of the environmental impact report for Tentative Parcel Map 26827 and conditional use permits 02-882 for a mini -mall, 02-883 for a gasoline station and 03-939 for alcohol sales at the major tenant for the Rosemead commercial retail center. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Who is making the motion? COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Me. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 153 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MAYOR IMPERIAL: And who was the second? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I made the second. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: We're doing them separately MAYOR IMPERIAL: Call for the question. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Are we doing them separately? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: This is on the first resolution. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Resolution 2005-43. Okay. So the second and -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Roll call vote? MAYOR IMPERIAL: Yes, please. THE CLERK: Councilmember Clark. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Yes. THE CLERK: Councilmember Nunez.. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: No. THE CLERK: Councilmember Tran. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: No. THE CLERK: Mayor Pro Tem Taylor. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Yes. THE CLERK: Mayor Imperial. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Absolutely yes. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: I move that we approve YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 154 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Resolution Number 2005-44. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Second. THE CLERK: A resolution of the City Council of the City of Rosemead amending Resolution Number 2004-39 adopting and approving findings, mitigation measures, a statement of overriding considerations, and a mitigation monitoring program for General Plan Amendment 03-02 and denying the appeal relating to the findings, mitigation measures, statement of overriding consideration and mitigation monitoring program as it relates to Tentative Parcel Map 26827, conditional use permits 02-882 for a mini -mall on Parcel 2 and 03-939 for alcohol sales at the major tenant on Parcel 1. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Maggie, you were the first? COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Yes. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: And, yes, I was the second. Okay. MAYOR IMPERIAL: And you were the second. THE CLERK: Councilmember Clark. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Yes. THE CLERK: Councilmember Nunez. COUNCILMEMBER NUNEZ: No. THE CLERK: Councilmember Tran. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: No. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 155 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE CLERK: Mayor Pro Tem Taylor. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Yes. THE CLERK: Mayor Imperial. MAYOR IMPERIAL: You bet. We are going to recess the City Council meeting and reconvene the CDC meeting -- can you hear me? UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No. MAYOR IMPERIAL: We are going to reconvene -- recess the City Council meeting and reconvene the CDC meeting. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR! A motion will be in order for this. THE CLERK: Is there a motion? MR. WALLIN: This is Resolution Number 2005-21, a resolution of the Rosemead Community Development Commission accepting the City of Rosemead's certification of a complete and final environmental impact report and joining the City of Rosemead's amendments to the resolution regarding CEQA findings and a statement of overriding considerations for a development within the project area Number 1 (1827 Walnut Grove Avenue). MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Move for the approval. COUNCILMEMBER CLARK: Second. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Okay. The first is by Gary, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 156 E c 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 the second is by Maggie. Okay. THE CLERK: Commissioner Clark. COMMISSIONER CLARK: Here -- I mean -- sorry, yes. THE CLERK: Commissioner Nunez. COMMISSIONER NUNEZ: No. THE CLERK: Commissioner Tran. COMMISSIONER TRAN: No. THE CLERK: Vice Chairman Taylor. VICE CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yes. THE CLERK: Chairman Imperial. CHAIRMAN IMPERIAL: Yes, ma'am. We now reconvene the City Council meeting and adjourn the City Council meeting -- okay. Matters from officials? None. Oral communications from the audience? THE CLERK: No speaker cards. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Lewin wanted to say something. Mr. Lewin. MR. LEWIN: Yes. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: You wanted to say something, oral communications. MR. LEWIN: Yes, I most certainly did. I wanted to discuss some illegal activity on the part of Pride'tonight. Okay. Earlier this evening there was -- YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-9333 157 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 as I'm sure everyone in here is well aware, there was a Pride activity at the clubhouse over by Encinita Elementary School on Rosemead Park property. Now, from what I understand, they rented out the facility for their activity, which is fine. If -- assuming the city law permits the rental of city property for political activity, that's fine. You have no problem with that, assuming that is true. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Lewin, if we may. Mr. Wallin, is that legal? MR. WALLIN: Yeah. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: That is legal. MR. LEWIN: That was not my particular point of challenge. My particular point of challenge is the fact that when I went by that facility, I also saw about three or four political signs posted on park property. I saw one "No recall," one "Wal-Mart yes," I think the other was in Chinese, but I'm not sure. They were both along the sidewalk running along Encinita Avenue. There was an additional one or two signs that were on the grass near the parking lot that was being used for that activity. Now, I called the Temple City sheriff's department about this, and I believe I spoke to Deputy Jewitt over there who can confirm my having spoken to him. And he referred me to the Assistant City 158 YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Manager, Don Wagner, who I also spoke to tonight and who told me, when I mentioned that to him, that it was most certainly a violation. It was most certainly a violation of proper procedure. And he called back later and he assured me that he would send somebody over there, a city employee over there, to remove the signs. Now, I'm assuming, since I checked later that those signs were gone -- because when I went back later, they were gone. However, as far as a witness to at least one of those signs, specifically, I believe, the "No on recall" sign that was posted along the brick wall on Encinitas, I believe Deputy Jewitt there can confirm that that was, in fact, there. Can you please confirm that? OFFICER JEWITT: Yep. MR. LEWIN: Okay. And also, I might add, that this was not simply a little slip-up and they didn't know. Mike Lewis, the paid Wal-Mart employee who runs Pride, was photographed -- was photographed in the past putting political signs on Rosemead Park property. Those -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Point of information. MR. LEWIN: Those photos have been seen by -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Point of information. Mr. Lewin, there was a sign that I saw of -- a sign YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23. 24 25 posted by the gym, the swimming pool. Is that the one you're talking about? MR. LEWIN: I'm not talking about anything by the swimming pool. I'm talking about.over by the clubhouse where the. activity was tonight. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: You're talking about the same sign? MR. LEWIN: The swimmina pool is off in the other direction. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: No. No. This is prior. You didn't bring it up tonight. -I'm just saying that I wanted to find out if Mr. Lewis put that sign up, because nobody ever made that statement. MR. LEWIN: Well, he did put up a sign, and I believe Councilman Tran can testify to having seen those photographs. COUNCILMEMBER IRAN: I think the Council had copies. Right, Bill? You had gotten copies of photos? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: No. Of which sign, John? COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: It was -- actually, a photograph was taken, and it was at Rosemead Park. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: A couple of months ago. Is that the same one we're talking about? MAYOR IMPERIAL: If you're talking about one YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 that -- where they had a meeting one time over there, and everybody I asked when I found out about it said they didn't have any sign over there, there was no sign over there at all, but that sign had been taken down that night when I got the information. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: We're talking about Mr. Tran and myself. It was supposed to -- or it was stuck on city property. This was about two months ago. MR. TRAN: Actually, that was another incident. I think the city manager can confirm that, because you did see the photo that was planted on the park -- public facilities. Right? I'm sorry. Can you give the Council copies of that? MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I've seen one set of pictures a couple months ago. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: There was two. There was two of them. MR. LEWIN: My basic point is that this was a repeat offense. This is not something that they did out of ignorance. This was intentional. It was an intentional violation of city policy. And Pride should be cited and fined for this violation. And that violation should be taken into consideration when they apply for any future activities on city property. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Okay. We've got YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 161 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 somebody else to speak there, I believe. I can't see. THE CLERK: No. There is no speaker there. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: There is two people standing over there. The lights are so bright. COUNCILMEMBER TRAN: That's a deputy. MR. LEWIN: I think I may be it. I. don't know. There is a police officer standing next to me, if you would like to speak to him. Okay. So I would just like to have that entered into the Council record and taken into consideration the next time Pride plans any activities. MAYOR IMPERIAL: For the record, also, that on one street, I had 40 signs that were stolen. I put some more up. MR. LEWIN: Can you please speak more loudly? We can't hear you. MAYOR IMPERIAL: I would like to say that on one street where I was given permission to put signs on private property, 40 of them were stolen. I had them there. Two days later, they were stolen. So this is not that sign. It's a lot of them. I don't know who those people are, but -- MR. LEWIN: We're not talking about stolen property. MAYOR IMPERIAL: What are you talking about, YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 162 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 sir? MR. LEWIN: We're talking about signs that are put on public property. "Yes on recall".signs have been stolen as well. We are -- I don't do it and I'm not necessarily accusing anyone over on the other side of the room doing it. But the fact is that does exist. However, that is not my point. My point is putting illegal signs on city property, that is a violation. And in tonight's case, at the very least, we have an officer who witnessed the presence of that sign immediately in front of a Pride activity. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Is there -- all right. Is there anyone else that -- THE CLERK: Mr. Mayor, we have a speaker on the other side. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Okay. I had a question about signs, too. Because at many City Council meetings, I guess it's the SOC -- they bring those signs. They brought them into the meeting and they waive them around. And when you had -- when we were here, they had these signs also. I objected to it because of a sign about Iraq, they can vote there. And I thought, that's not really good. And so I noticed. So many of these things -- and so this business of bringing signs -- I mean, is our school public YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 163 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 property? I saw all the people out here right in front as we came by, they were waiving these signs and they brought them into the City Council meeting. And the people that bring the signs, you guys, you do it all the . time. And so I think it would be good if none of us just waived signs, unless we're supposed to do it. And when I was up at the meeting, I was up there, I didn't see anybody waiving signs. They did give us shirts. Maybe that's -- but I think maybe this -- if you want, you guys play by the rules. And we should all play by the rules. And I would like this entered into the minutes, too. Thank you. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Mayor. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Yes. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Is there anyone else? I can't see with those lights shining. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes, we have one more person over here. MR. FLOURNOY: Is this the public comment time? MAYOR IMPERIAL: This is our last -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Oral communication, Mr. Flournoy. MR. FLOURNOY: Thank you very much. I have a couple semi-official things to say to follow up on the YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 164 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 signs. We had the mapping act. Anything you did tonight is void and null and without a fact until you get the stamp on your seismic mapping. Quit wasting our time. Anyway, this is republican scumbag speaking. You talk about union jobs. Last time I worked with the union, I was sitting across the table bargaining with them, and now I find myself down with Miguel Contreras and union people. My take is, we have thousands of union members here in Rosemead. I didn't know we had so many. Thank goodness we do. But it's not the outside coming in. It's our inside union members reaching out for help on this. And I find myself helping them reach out, which is quite shocking now. Anyhow, I want to talk about Lincoln and Washington and Martin Luther King. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Flournoy, if I may. I would just like to refer you to the soils report. You' mentioned about borings that need to be done on the soil. MR. FLOURNOY: Right. They need to be 100 feet deep, Mr. Taylor. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I don't know where that came from. MR. FLOURNOY: FEMA 450. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: They did 29 boring soils. YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951)276-1333 165 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. FLOURNOY: That's good for a civil_ engineering report. That doesn't do it for the seismic hazard mappping. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: But I want it in the record. MR. FLOURNOY: I said it was an excellent job they did. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Well, thank you very much. Let's make reference they did do the boring. MR. FLOURNOY: They did -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: They were not 15 feet deep. MR. FLOURNOY: Well, some of them were 20. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: I know some of them, you're saying. But they were more than 15 feet. MR. FLOURNOY: I said on the record that is an excellent soils engineering report. MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Thank you very much. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Mr. Flournoy, what's your conversation about -- you've been up here about three times now. MR. FLOURNOY: Okay. This is public comment. Quite separate from the CEQA thing. But anyway, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington all had one thing in common. They all have holidays. We YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 110.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 also need to know about Sundays and weekends. The point is that we don't set elections on Sundays, holidays, or weekends. We just set them 88 to 125 days in a discretionary act. And it doesn't seem to be that this Council can figure out to do that. .This is not a ministry of making law. It's a question of picking a date. There is no liability there. The people have asked for this. And when the City Clerk certified the election, then this Council shall order the election. There is no -- in the law with any authority to undue the election. You are acting without authority in this case. You can't change the date. You can't make it after 88 -- 125 days, and you can't make it before 88 days, and you shouldn't make it on HDC's birthday. Those are the only options you have. Somebody must have gone out and saw Chicken Little and the sky was falling, and somehow you thought you should rescind this thing. Not a good idea. You acted on authority outside your own, and that was acting outside the scope of your -- whatever they call it. I'm tired. So anyway, what I have to tell you is, is that you're being investigated for violations of the voting --'of the Election Code. Some of these are a YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 167 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 felony. I advise you all to get independent counsel and do not discuss this among yourselves. You need to not speak to intermediares or third parties. Gary, somebody has talked about conspiracy, and we don't want that to happen to you good people. Recertify this election as soon as possible. I understand somebody put it on the agenda for your next Council meeting. Go ahead and take the quick way out on this. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Thank you, Mr. Flournoy. MR. FLOURNOY: Okay. Couple other things. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Come on now. MR. FLOURNOY: I'm trying very closely -- anything else? I don't see anything else that I can't talk about later. I just did want to get that other thing on the record to protect you people as much as anything else. I wish everybody a merry Christmas. I have some bags from Beach's. They're holiday gift bags. And it's my birthday tomorrow. Anyway, you might want to save these holiday gift bags, because if we have a Wal-Mart, of course, it may be the last one we ever have in Beach's. But they are available. MAYOR IMPERIAL: Do they have union stickers on them? YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 I.1 1( 1] 1� l� 19 is 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. FLOURNOY: I can't hear you, Jay, but listen -- MAYOR PRO TEM TAYLOR: Mr. Flournoy, happy birthday -- today or tomorrow? MR. FLOURNOY: Tomorrow. MAYOR IMPERIAL: At this time I would like to adjourn the CDC meeting to December 27, 2005, at 7. o'clock. I would also like to adjourn the City Council meeting to 8 o'clock p.m. in Council Chambers. This meeting is adjourned. (End of proceedings, 11:39 p.m.) YOUNGER REPORTING SERVICES (951) 276-1333 169 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) ) SS. COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) I, DAWN M. DAVILA, a certified shorthand reporter for the State of California, do hereby certify: That prior to being examined, the witness named in the foregoing deposition was sworn by me to testify to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; That the said deposition was taken down by me in stenotype at the time and place therein stated and thereafter reduced to typewriting under my direction, and that the deposition transcript is a true and correct record of the proceedings here held. I further certify that I am not of counsel or attorney for any of the parties hereto or in any way interested in the event of this cause, and that I am not related to any of the parties thereto. Dated this 9th day of March nnnc DAWN - Certified Shorthand Reporter License No. 8383 ADJOURNMENT The meeting of December 13, 2005 adjourned at 11:39 p.m. respectively. Gary,TPqlor, Mayor 01 ATTEST: I Gloria Molleda City Clerk Rosemead City Council Adjourned Regular Meeting Minutes of December 13, 2005 Page 1 of 1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) SS. CITY OF ROSEMEAD ) I, Gloria Molleda, City Clerk for the City of Rosemead, do hereby certify that the Mayor executed the unsigned approved minutes of December 13, 2005 by the Rosemead City Council on the 8th of February, 2011, by the following vote to wit: Yes: Armenta, Clark, Low, Ly, Taylor No: None Abstain: None Absent: None Gloria Molleda City Clerk