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CC - Item 3A - Minutes 02-26-08• 0 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING ROSEMEAD CITY COUNCIL February 26, 2008 The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Tran at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City Hall, 8838 E. Valley Boulevard, Rosemead, California. The pledge to the flag was led by Council Member Taylor. The invocation was delivered by Mayor Tran. ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: Present: Council Member's Clark, Low, Taylor, Mayor Pro Tern Nunez, Mayor Tran Absent: None 1. PRESENTATION • Jun Lugue, Coach of the Science Olympiad Team- Muscatel Intermediate School Note: Mr. Jun Lugue did not attend the City Council meeting; however, Mr. Chung, Math Teacher, who conducts a Saturday Algebra Academy for students and had recently been featured in a magazine, attended the meeting to be honored and receive a proclamation. Mayor Tran introduced Mr. Chung and gave a brief summary of his accomplishments and his program, stating there is no other program than the Saturday Algebra Academy. Presented Mr. Chung with a Certificate of Proclamation and Council took a photograph with him. Mr. Chung stated he had not prepared any speech but addressed the importance of parents spending quality time with their children and helping them with their homework. He expressed how much he loves his job and the kids he helps; thanked Council for their recognition. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated it was great to have a teacher like Mr. Chung who is also a resident of Rosemead; this is a double treat. Thanked Mr. Chung for all his hard work. Council Member Clark thanked him for helping the children and the investment he puts into his work. Council Member Low thanked him for all his hard work and added it was excellent to see a teacher go the extra steps. Council Member Taylor thanked Mr. Chung for taking care of the youth and added he is a parent whether he realizes it or not. City Manager Chi announced and introduced our new Parks and Recreation Director David Montgomery Scott. Mr. Montgomery Scott came from Norwalk and Mr. Chi is certain that residents will respond to David as well as staff has. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page I of 28 • 0 2. PUBLIC HEARING A. Public Hearing on the Annual Action Plan Amendment for Fiscal Year 2007.2008 Each year between May and July, the City of Rosemead submits an Annual Action Plan covering the period July 1 of that year through June 30 of the following year to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). An Annual Action Plan is required by HUD in order for the City to receive federal funds under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnership (HOME) programs. The Annual Action Plan includes the proposed activities, resources, and expenditures for the CDBG and HOME programs. Having reviewed the activities identified in the Fiscal Year 2007-2008 Annual Action Plan, staff is proposing to amend this Plan to better reflect the needs of the City. CDBG entitlement funds which were to be used during the Fiscal Year 2007-2008 for City Hall ADA Improvements are recommended now to be used as follows: City Facilities ADA Improvements $330,000 Provide funds for ADA Improvements to city-owned buildings. This revision will allow funds originally allocated for only City Hall ADA improvements to be expanded to include ADA improvements for all city-owned buildings. Its has been determined that there are several other city facilities that are in need of ADA improvements and with this amendment these funds would now be able to be expanded on these facilities. It does not affect or change the original allocation amount of $330,000. Recommendation: That the City Council approve and authorize submittal of the amended Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development covering the period of July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008. City Manager Chi reviewed staff report for Action Plan Amendment and stated Economic Administrator Michelle Ramirez would present said item. Economic Administrator Ramirez announced the public hearing was being held for citizen's input on the 2007-2008 Action Plan Amendment. Item includes HUD and HOME and having reviewed the plan, staff is proposing to amend it to better reflect the needs of the city. Mayor Tran opened public hearing at 7:15 p.m. There being no speakers the public hearing was closed at 7:15 p.m. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 2 of 28 • 0 Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made a motion, second by Council Member Low to approve staff's recommendation. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Tran No: None Abstain: Taylor Absent: None Councilmember Taylor asked if any changes were made; there were a couple of submittals staff was to take into consideration and he stated he did not see the changes. City Manager Chi clarified, this amendment was not for the upcoming year but rather for the current year of 2007-2008. B. City Council Study Session - General Plan Update As the City Council is aware, Rosemead has been in the process of updating its General Plan for the past several years. Since the draft General Plan was first distributed for review, staff has solicited input from the City Council, the Planning Commission and the community in a variety of different ways. A study session was held with the Planning Commission on January 23, 2008. Furthermore, staff coordinated community meetings that took place on February 5, 2008 and February 12, 2008. Finally, the Study Session being held tonight will give the community one additional opportunity to provide feedback regarding the draft General Plan. Mayor Tran stated he wanted to make clarifications on a postcard that was mailed out to the public by Council Member Clark; stated he welcomed residents and that it was important that the public help shape our City and in our policy decision making to better the community. "I have to comment on this because there is a lot of inaccuracy in this postcard that I need to address." First it states people should attend the February 26, 2008 meeting since Mayor Tran requires you to fill out a speaker card and turn it in; this is very inaccurate. It also states, "the Mayor may not let you speak during the meeting"; that is a lie. Cards have been in effect before I came into office. Mayor Tran asked Council Member Taylor if there were speaker cards last year when he was not Mayor. Council Member Taylor responded there have been speaker cards for a long time. Mayor Tran went on to his second point; the proposed changes to the city General Plan would allow bigger taller buildings. "It's already allowed currently in our General Plan." We could build up to 75 feet currently; even our General Plan was not adopted today. City Manager Chi responded building requirements and development standards are addressed through our existing zoning code. As it relates to development standards, currently the zoning code allows for property owners to develop up to 75 feet along Valley Boulevard. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 3 of 28 • 0 Mayor Tran continued, "More condos, yes but not more retail square footage and that is another lie". Reduce parking requirements; the General Plan does not even address parking requirements. What I'm addressing now is the postcard that states the General Plan would make these changes. These changes could result in blocked skyline views for adjacent homeowners; it has been done for many years. What we have done in the last year is stopped mansionization by reducing the square footage of housing that is built in our city. Audience asked housing or commercial. Mayor Tran responded housing; shadows across your property, we have reduced it. There is higher density on the condos but that is a very subjective point of view. We have the retail square footage is reduced, "overbuilding neighborhoods, your R-1, R-2 zoning neighborhoods, which have been reduced. Again, we have reduced that on the residential part of the neighborhoods. The property on Mission Drive, Mission and Rosemead Boulevard, which is a 3 to 4 story building was approved prior by the previous Planning Commission; the previous majority City Council approved it, not this current. Council Member Clark stated "you approved it this year". Mayor Tran responded it was started but it was approved by the previous majority. Told Ms. Clark she had the minutes, which reflected said statement. Mayor Tran continued, overflow customer parking in neighborhoods, asked how many have seen the property we have on San Gabriel and Garvey and that was approved with a lot of retail that does not meet the parking requirement. The last part "fees to park on your own street", I don't think any Council Member has ever stated we need fees to park on your own street. Mr. Tran stated he felt these were scare tactics and opportunities to invoke fear. He stated he welcomes residents to speak and thinks it is important to clarify that. Mayor Tran concluded by stating there is a reelection next year and this is an opportunity to promote an individual. Council Member Clark began by stating that when she was Mayor she never asked for speaker cards; stated it was very intimidating how the agenda reads, "If you wish to address the City Council, please complete a speaker request card as it must be handed to the City Clerk before the start of the meeting." Second issue regarding whether the Mayor would allow speakers that came directly from study session, Mr. Everling stated the Mayor may not allow public comment at the meeting. City Manager Chi asked Mr. Everling if he had misspoken. City Planner Everling apologized and stated that in fact he had misspoken. City Manager Chi stated it would never be staff's intent to not allow the residents to speak. Mayor Tran told Ms. Clark she had put it in a postcard to let the residents know that the Mayor may not let them speak. Council Member Clark responded she had assumed. Rosemead City Council Meeting .Alinutes of February 26, 2008 Page 4 of 28 C 0 Council Member Low responded that Mr. Everling might have made that statement but Ms. Clark should not have assumed that. Council Member Clark asked if she should have assumed he was lying. Ms. Clark continued stating there has been three meetings on the issue of the mixed use; she stated she has been the only Council Member that has attended all three meetings. The development standards of allowing 75 feet; "I have come tonight prepared to ask that when we do the zoning code that, that be part of the zoning code we are going to revisit". City Manager Chi stated that when the General Plan is adopted, the next step that we are required to do by state law is to update the zoning code so that it is consistent with the changes that are made to the General Plan. Council Member Clark continued with the issue on the General Plan; it does not address parking requirement, it actually states in here concerning that we may be taking away on the main arterials. Secondly, we were told many times that there is a new state law that requires cities to have more housing because of population increase, which I and Mr. Taylor did not vote for. If a developer comes in and says "I'm going to provide a certain percentage of the units of low or moderate income families", the city has to by law, allow parking perks. Those statements were true in the letter that one of the projects that Mr. Taylor and I did not vote for would have needed 300 parking spaces and they were allowed 50 less parking spaces. My point on those projects is that if we leave it the way it is, the developer needs to come in and ask for variance. And if he asks, the ball is in our court, we can say, "we will let you do this but you have to do this". The case in point the project on Mission happens to abide by our current zoning on the Mixed Use, which is fourteen dwelling units per acre and because of that it did not have to come to the Council. It actually came to us on April 24th when our previous City Manager was here, Andy Lazzaretto, and he had it on our agenda as a consent calendar item, as an undertaking agreement. There was a parcel map since we had to approve the joining of the parcel map. My point is that project makes my point exactly; we do not want to change the General Plan to give it more density because our existing plan is already too dense. Ms. Clark continued by stating she would rather keep it as it is and then when we visit the zoning code, we make restrictions on how high the buildings can be. Council Member Low asked if they could get to public speakers. Council Member Taylor stated he would like to clarify a couple of statements the Mayor made; the high density that is coming in on San Gabriel and Garvey, that project is six to seven stories tall, which is what is being proposed. Mayor Tran stated that was brought to council before they were in office. Council Member Taylor stated on Rosemead Boulevard, Garvey Avenue, Del Mar, San Gabriel and Garvey; are 206 residential units. He added he has been in Council for thirty-four years and Ms. Clark has done more on this Council to protect the rights of the public than all 5 Council. Council Member Low asked if staff had information. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 5 of 28 0 City Manager Chi responded that if they were talking about the northwest corner of Garvey and San Gabriel, several years ago a developer had come in for an architectural recommendation to develop a hotel on that site. Staff at that time recommended an architect for the developer to use, the same architect that the City has used for a number of projects. The only proposal I am aware of on that particular site is for a hotel type use which may have some sort of residential component on it. But it is not a project that is in any entitlement process. It is a conceptual submittal to the staff but again it was before our time. As it relates to the process tonight staff has a short presentation, if council is willing we would like to go over the presentation and then ask the public to make comments. City Planner Everting presented a power point presentation. City Manager Chi explained the process utilized by staff to get to this point; started in 2003, surveys were distributed and some were returned, at that time members of council were interviewed by consultant to describe and discuss what they wanted to proposed. During the past weeks there have been community meetings to let the public know what is being proposed; those meetings are not mandated by state law, however, staff decided to host those meetings; in addition we have received feed back from the community and Council as it relates to changes on General Plan. Ms. Clark has submitted oppositions to changes in density in mixed use areas, in addition, asked that the economic development section in the General Plan be removed, as well as, the proposed bike lanes, and asked that the parking and open space remain the same. Ms. Low has asked that Valley and Garvey be designated as MHRC, and Rosemead, San Gabriel, and Del Mar be designated as MRC. Also removal of all mixed use commercialfindustrial design for the MIC designation and change medium density residential land use designation in the large southwestern portion of the city to a low density residential land use designation. Planning Commissioner Todd Kunioka submitted his views on what the current General Plan should look like. City Manager Chi continued by stating that ultimately the General Plan needs to be a reflection of the values and the vision which the community would like to see for the future development of Rosemead. During these community meetings we had an overwhelming response and we had over 100 community members attend those meetings; given the input the proposals and nearly across the board opinion included issues with density, traffic, and parking. Those who attended those meetings were nearly universal in their desire to see a reduction in density back to current levels and the consensus opinion heard is that any increase in density would degrade the overall quality of life. Based on the comments that have been received to date that's the direction and that is the recommendation that has been put before Council. Staff recommends that Council take additional public comment and then vote to provide staff with direction as it relates to whether or not that recommendation will continue or if there are any other recommendations from Council. Council Member Taylor asked for a point of clarification from Mr. Chi regarding Ms. Low's request for change of the designations. City Planner Everting responded that the MHRC is the mixed use high density residential/commercial. Council Member Taylor stated 45 units per acre, the whole length of the City, along Valley and Garvey. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 6 of 28 0 City Planner Everling responded that was correct and second designation was mixed use residential/commercial. The distinction between the two is one is at 30 mixed use residential/commercial and the other is high density. City Manager Chi added that the MIC designation is mixed use industrial/commercial, the removal of that designation and the last changes that we reduce the current density for residential land use designation from the southwest portion of the City from an R2 zone to an R1 zone: Council Member Taylor stated it was only fair to explain it before the public came up for comments. He also asked about the density of the units and the status of the project on Del Mar and Garvey. Assistant City Manager Brian Saeki responded it is still in entitlement process. It is going through the planning process, architectural design, and site planning. Council Member Clark asked regarding Ms. Low's proposals. Council Member Low stated she wanted to clarify that the red designation was commercial. City Planner Everling responded some were mixed use and some commercial; if remove it defaults back to commercial. Assistant City Manager Saeki explained that if the MIC is removed it will become commercial or industrial. Council Member Clark asked about a shop that is there and we are changing the zone. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded that the zone is not being changed, it is the General Plan designation and as a point of reference, if it is a commercial shop there are about 95% of our commercial uses are allowed in industrial zoning designations. Council Member Low responded it is not necessary to have industrial/commercial and that she was trying to keep it consistent and simple. What I'm saying to basically to change it by allowing mixed use and give you flexibility to do commercial; there is that opportunity to do so. If we build commercial it is going to make more traffic, we don't need extra designation. Council Member Clark responding she was allowing residential everywhere. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded no, if you get rid of MIC it will default to commercial. Council Member Taylor stated the entire length of Garvey Avenue is to be high density residential from border to border. Assistant City Manager Saeki asked if Ms. Clark was referring to the MIC General Plan designation because there is no MIC designation on Garvey. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 7 of 28 • Council Member Clark asked what is entailed in changing the medium density residential in the southwest portion of the city and how that affects the property owners. City Manager responded the recommendation to change that portion to low density residential, impact of that change would be multi-family type uses would not be permitted in that area. It will be zoned as R1 single family residential. Council Member Clark responded if you change it that becomes legal non-conforming. If the house burns down you cannot re-build it, you cannot add a room on it. You may not even be able to get loans on the property because it has now been down-zoned to R-1. I live in that area and I know what I am talking about and every properly owner that lives south of the freeway better be scared to death because it is a taking of your property. Assistant City Manager Saeki explained that first of all, the zoning was not being changed. Council Member Clark responded your General Plan has to conform to your zoning so it will be changed. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded that he believed in the zoning code and that will remain the same for R1, R2, and R3 zones, you can do more than one house on a lot if your lot is big enough. Matt Everling responded that was correct Council Member Clark responded that they had just taken away the purpose of the R2. if you have a large enough lot you can build 2 or 3 or 4 houses. What you are saying if you downzone to R-1 you have taken away the property rights of the landowner. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that accessory structures were allowed in the R-1 zone, maybe not as big of a house but accessory structures, such as, granny flats. Council Member Clark stated the existing house would become legal non-conforming and you could not rebuild. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded they could be. Barbara Murphy, 9125 Bentel Street, stated she has lived in Rosemead for 27 years, asked Council what their vision was for Rosemead for 5, 10, 15, and 20 years from now. She clarified she did not want to hear the negativity; residents want to know the Council's vision. Council Member Clark began by stating her vision is quality of life, my vision is being able to drive on our streets, being able to park on the street, having our families be able to play in their yards, having a downtown center, more commercial is okay. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes ofFebmary 26, 2008 Page 8 of 28 • Council Member Taylor stated agreed with Ms. Clark and would like to have tranquil community, our street: are all currently rated F for travel, which is the lowest level they can get. These condominium projects are the equivalent of one city block, each one of them; not against the buildings the one on Mission is three stories there is no reason why we have to go 4, 5, 6, and even 7. On Valley and Rosemead, Garvey and San Gabriel those are prime commercial zones, we need to keep commercial zones by that I mean parcels or a certain intersections. You can't take prime corners and build high density housing and expect sale tax to increase. Council Member Low stated her vision of the City is to be exciting and a city we are proud of. To have business in the main corridor, no vacant shops, no vacant land, a project that can last 20 to 25 years. We want residential area to be very quiet and safe but when they come to main corridor they have places to go eat and have fun. For younger generations: we want them to have places to work and they can own their own home; families can live close to each other. I want an exciting City that people talk about and say "Rosemead is a cool City". Mayor Pro Tem Nunez responded he agreed with a lot of what Polly had stated. When I first got into council there was a lot of things I was told we couldn't do, for example, they told us we couldn't clean up graffiti and we have done a great job with that. We need to designate areas to house more people, this city is going to grow whether we want it or not. Heard stories about people dividing their homes to house more people in them; that is not quality of life, to take houses and add more rooms within. Need to make sure our teachers live in our areas; they can not afford to drive in. A lot of us can not afford the houses we live in now, we need to find new corridors to expand instead of tearing down we need to build up a little to help these people. Rosemead has been identified as a donut hole; there has been growth around us except for here. There will be a lot of thrilling things coming but if we stop growth it is not going to happened. Why is our General Plan already 20 years old when it should be updated every 10 years? We need to go out there and update the General Plan. Council Member Taylor responded nothing had been able to change because other General Plans, as their designs, cities have potential growth; Rosemead is 95% to 98% build out. You don't have the options that many other cities have; we are just trying to correct the existing land that we have. If this developer can come in and build on Mission 14 units, 3 stories high, that is fine but we don't need to pack more people into higher and higher buildings. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated if you look at the General Plan in the past, Rush and Walnut Grove was not designated as retail, it was commercial, but we changed it so we could have some retail there. This change to the General Plan does not call for 15 homes; it just calls for re-designating some of the areas. Mayor Tran stated there were a lot of comments heard regarding the future of Rosemead and stated he wanted to be positive about it, thinks there is opportunity to be successful. During campaigns in talking to folks if they wanted to eat at recognized restaurants to go to other cities. It is important we grow and we grow smart by reducing a lot of the residential areas, it preserves the neighborhood although it increases the density in the major arterials. We talked to a lot of people that have these mixed use in their city; these type of developments, want to that natural base. The argument they've made is that they live there and go down stairs to eat,.shop, and go down the street; that is an investment. As Mr. Nunez pointed out, the General Plan has not been updated in 21 years; it should be changed every 10 years so that residents do Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 9 q 28 • 0 not see it as a shocker and state we are making a huge change. We would like to update this, we want to get input, and welcome the comments, all in positive manner. The philosophy is how do we improve Rosemead and by designating certain areas does not mean all this stuff is going up by tomorrow. There is a process that takes place; first with the planning department, then with the planning commission, also there are public hearings for these projects. I think there is great opportunity for growth, great opportunity to retain all residents so that they can say "we are proud to live in our City; we can shop, we can dine, we can entertain here". Gary Metz, Rosemead resident, requested the General Plan be reconsidered, especially density along the corridors; agreed with improving the quality of life but not sure that by cutting a house in half and stacking them on top of each other is good either. Corridors go past schools; need revitalize commercial and retail base but not stack condos on top. Asked that the economic element be taken out because of the idea of having the State taking over; would like that power retained at local level. Thanked guys who put this together; they have been very supportive and forthcoming with the information. Alejandro Gandara, Rosemead resident for more than 20 years, stated he did not see why this has to be with the spirit of some type of war. This has been great information, learn a lot by listening. Some cities change the look of the city and introduce something to rebuild on that same lot to make it a better place to come to because, as many residents know, there is nothing uglier than the mini malls that came popping up in the last 15 years. In the spirit of which things are handed out, telling people they should be scared to death because of some change, if they already own the property there they will probably not be affected because of the grandfather clauses. If that statement is not true then I would like to hear it but in the spirit of being helpful so that we can all get together, maybe take one story off the condominiums, and come up with something. When people learn to work together it will be a great lesson and we can all benefit from that. Quality of life is an ambiguous statement; nice thing to say but means very little. Mr. Butterfield, Rosemead resident for over 40 years, all for improving Rosemead, whatever we need to do commercially and residentially; my objection is if we don't change the parking that we need for all homes and condominiums, we need to space it out more. Traffic is already bad traffic going out from Mission to Rosemead and it will get worse when the project is completed; my concern is that we don't have high density population in one spot. Marlene Shinen, 8447 Drayer Lane, San Gabriel, commended Matt Everling, Planning Administrator for providing study sessions, listening with care to the people, and answering questions. Most Rosemead residents were not aware of session held January 23rd. Margaret Clark sent out a lot of the information but other people did not know and that is a problem. Oppose changing mixed use residential allowing 45 units, oppose bike lanes it seems to be dangerous, and please note Atlantic Boulevard in Monterey Park, traffic is ridiculous. John Tang, 7241 Charlotte Avenue, thanked Mayor, Council Member, and staff for all their hard work and dedication. Here to provide you with another perspective, we all want to see our community thrive, economically, socially, and politically. In order to do so we need to change our attitudes and tones of public disorder, there are times when we get angry and frustrated but we must also note the successes of the City. Such as, the creation of the Public Safety Division and also that our neighborhoods are gang and violence free. That is the reason why I support updating the General Plan, the increase of business Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 10 of 28 generates more revenue, which supports more programs, such as, the Public Safety and gives us opportunity to take a more proactive approach. Stated he was bothered by negativity and the lack of respect and think we can hold ourselves to a higher standard. It is the negative that divides our cities and our Country. Ernestine Bacio, Rosemead resident, stated there needs to be better communication with the residents. Also spoke that I needed to know how many condos are being built and the newspaper provided the information for me this morning; I understood that 195 condos that have already been approved by the City Council and the Planning Commission. Stated we need a super market and we need a nice restaurant. Todd Kunioka, 8400 Wells Street, stated his views summarized earlier by Oliver Chi, stressed concept that there is no such thing as free lunch; this is the plan that has created the things we have now, people are not happy. If we don't change the plan we are still going to have traffic and density; we are able to put that density on Garvey and Rosemead to keep that out of your neighborhood. If we don't change the plan we will have the same thing. Mixed Use is what we are working towards; hope we can move in that direction. Sandra Ung, 9308 De Adalena Street, supported the General Plan because thought it is going to be good for the people and make big improvement in the City. Kenneth Willer, 3860 Walnut Grove, since 1964, would like to continue to have a good life. Planning Commission and he shared the building with the post office but they forgot the parking. The previous City Council built the Library and Senior Citizen Center; those are improvements that helped the people that first live hear. Would like to keep the progress in that area, also asked to widen the street on Walnut Grove; now to get out of driveway is a big hassle and there are no areas to park cars. Sheryl Blum, 4824 Earle Avenue, across the street from California Mission Inn, which takes up between Mission and Delta, Demonstrated on a map, indicating that the brown part, is high density. She asked why we didn't go to Denver Colorado and looked at how beautiful their place is but pointed out that they also have a lot of land, at one point Rosemead had that land, it was a pristine valley; then civilization came and we had Rosemead. I get really excited when Ms. Low talks about her vision and I wish that for the City, but we have problems right now and I am not hearing about that. She stated the reason why she brought up where she lived, a high density area, she lives across the street from a very important facility, where elderly go and are dying. The people that work there have very important jobs; however, this organization has not provided for their employees, there is no employee parking, it's all in the public street; the Earle side is where all employees park. What do you do with the low density, two to three stories max; you must do parking. Pasadena makes them provide parking and won't let them open a shop. Ms. Blum stated we have this incredible city codes, which I hope everyone gets a copy of; she stated the current city codes have not applied to where she lives today and asked how in the future those codes were going to be applied. Peter Hernandez stated he was Sheryl's neighbor and had the same problems she did and stated something needed to be done. Lived in Rosemead since 1969 and it was great, now it is a mess. You are worried more about bringing buildings and not worried about traffic. Stated he was worried about how traffic was going to be diverted. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page I I of 28 • • Nga Truong, 7701 Hellman Avenue, stated she has lived in Rosemead for four years, the City has a lot of potential but in the past years there has been a lot of graffiti and traffic, and believes that the General Plan will enhance the services for the City. Stated that generally with people having access to services it will reduce traffic; they generate sale taxes, which in turn will produce revenue for the City. Allan Chau, stated she had taken a looked at General Plan and the main plan is a good idea. She has to drive out of the City to go anywhere. By bringing new buildings it will liven up the City and in addition provide more sale tax. Wants to make Rosemead a City she wants to come to; a lot of people don't know where Rosemead is, I want to put Rosemead on the map. Sally Harris, 4747 N. Fendyke, lived here since 1968; when first decided where to buy property, wanted a small quiet city; Rosemead was a quiet city and it is a big city now. We have to be careful on how we do our changes. Fire department is concern and asked how we are going to move all these people during a major disaster. Jim Flournoy, talked about the current General Plan; project on Mission did not come to Council; project on 8728 Valley, they can put a 75 foot building there and they could because it meets the current General Plan. The current General Plan can allow the projects that we have now; 15 condos to a little lot. All those projects are approved under our current plan; suggested that residents make comments and submit them to Council. Margaret Alderete stated she was glad what the City did on Mission Drive.. People are not only going to shop in the buildings we build; they are going to get on road and they are going to make traffic. Stated that we did not address the problems we have now. Glad Margaret Clark wrote the card and hope that in the future Council continues to let the people know. Jim Longthorne, 4807 N. Bartlett Avenue, resident for 43 years, stated he would not be here if it wasn't for Ms. Clark, Council has not notified the community; spoke on high density mixeded used; the plan is robust and it is design to move Rosemead forward but it draws a larger population from a community into a multi high rise City. Asked where the children of those units are going to play. The downside of the progress is that it takes the fabric of what we call the City; need enforcement to existing procedures; transportation issues will be taken care at later time. Jacky stated he has lived in the City for three years; I know traffic is very bad but if you put a mixeded use then I will be able to go out. Stated it was a great idea to have a mixed use so that he does not have to worry about traffic when going out. Diana Herrera, Delta Avenue, asked City Council to consider congested areas; current plan allows growth but residents do not want that, if you want to build Rosemead better, then plan and prepare. You may think the older residents don't want development and that is not true, it needs more planning, carefully consider of back lash of not planning ahead. Lily Tran stated she has lived in Rosemead for 16 years and supports mixeded used because it will cut down traffic. Residents can eat within and they can easily get food or medicine downstairs; bring in more Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 12 of 28 • • affordable housing. Also approve a playground. Jerry Lewin thanked Ms. Clark and Mr. Taylor because if it wasn't for them he wouldn't be here. Went to Rosemead High about Wal-Mart and the attitude of those two was so offensive that I got involved in politics. Both said there would be no problems with Wal-Mart and now that we are talking about changing density, we can't do that because there is a traffic problem. Stated you are not concerned about the people in South Rosemead but when it is up here, we have problems. Need more parks; use developer fees to purchase land for parks. Velia Navarro thanked Councilwoman Clark for sending flyer; have seen a lot of changes and her main concern is propose condominiums three, four, five stories behind Burger King. Don't know were you are putting parking for all these people. You have that problem with the Auction; they have transport trucks coming in and out all day. Have an Asian market on San Gabriel and Garvey that is congested, fight traffic; keep safety of kids in mind. It is possible there might be a hotel there, why do we need a hotel there. New Council is saying that Wal-Mart sneaked in and now this plan is going to be there. We don't have parks for the children; we don't have a market, why not put a park there or a market. Show me what has been clean up other than the graffiti. Peter Low stated he had a feeling that this is a diversified community; General Plan can provide for new people. Think that the General Plan can compromise to make opportunity to have people fulfill the American dream. Christine Heart stated she was proud to be one of the young people that do not want this plan in this city. Added she takes a bus to get to the City and buses are packed; Rosemead is a small City and to try and expand upward is not a good idea. Asked what gave Council the idea that residents wanted that, parking situation will be worse. Asked where all these children will be going to school. Christopher Vach stated he has lived in Rosemead 14 years. Addressed Council Member Clark and stated that when he moved to Rosemead the population was 45,000 and now is 63,000 asked if there is no build up where are all those people going to live. You don't want change but the world changes all the time, we all have kids, where are all the kids going to live. We all like the small and quiet neighborhood but we do not want to pay for it. Everyone complains about the traffic, what about public transportation or carpooling; instead of complaining do something about it. If we do not add General Plan I wonder where the new people coming in are going to live. Thomas Chan, 7715 Wasola Street, stated if you want Rosemead to look better; you should update everything. Henry Lo, 3205 Angeles Street, Board Member of Garvey School District, thanked City of Rosemead for having discussion on General Plan. The students are our future leaders and families are moving away because housing is expensive. Reality is that communities change and grow and we need to accommodate that. We need to have discussion on what is necessary to keep this community sustainable. Need to talk about how we can provide housing, provide retail choices, parks, and also some sort of public transportation. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 13 0/28 Ken Pike, 8400 Grand, stated he has been in Rosemead for 62 years; vacant land when I came here. I have invested my life here in town; I was in the formation of the city; hired professional planners that recommended for the General Plan. Planning Commission does not know the background in the City; people who are recommending have no investment in the City. Asked who will be able to afford condominiums and they don't have a place for the children to play. Juan Nunez, Del Mar, stated General Plan was a wrong idea, it will cause more traffic; problems with water, which are already below previous levels. Bonifacio Herrera stated he had lived in Rosemead for 15 years and approved the General Plan. Stated it will get more taxes to get more police officers and schools and that was the reason why he supported the mixeded use development. Allan Ung, Rosemead resident and supports the General Plan; will be good for people that do not have a car and for people who drive can save some money. Jay Imperial stated that the things that need to be done are not being talked about. If you see what is happening on San Gabriel and Valley, have people who own the property build San Gabriel Hotel and clean it up. Have police run Safety Center on Garvey. Bob Bruesch, 7500 Wilmar, stated this was the way a community should operate; good points about growth. Traffic growth is happening in our community; few years back we had a problem on Walnut Grove and Valley, we couldn't decide where parking was going to be; new generations do not live here because there is not affordable housing; if we want developers to bring affordable housing they should be allowed to bring in these things. Current owners want to protect privacy issue and may be against future development but they need to realize the General Plan is not for us but for the next generation. Simon Lee stated he felt time has been completely changing and the housing need will continue growing; we don't want to put this type of population in residential area. High density use has been utilized and been successful in other cities. This will reduce traffic and we can pull all the open space together in mixeded use into bigger open space. Support very much the mixeded use on Valley; General Plan is not for us but for the next generation. Please pay more attention to traffic situation. Brian Lewin, 9501 E. Ralph Street, born and raise in Rosemead, tired of being and feeling like a prisoner; people don't want development because they don't want traffic. Most of those people do not live here. Are we going to be held hostage because other cities have traffic. If we want development we can't wish development into existence; we have to create a climate where the developers want to come. Don't agree with everything in General Plan but do feel we need mixed use if we really want development into the city. am willing to pay price for that; traffic is something we can do something about if we plan for it. General Plan is not going to pop up from one day to another; the city has time to gradually make changes. Asked that his understanding was that a certain amount of money the city received was depending upon the City providing a certain amount of new housing. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded no, the State comes up with regional housing, which is an assessment study for every city; they come up with the number based on population, income, and Rosemead City Council Ueeting tt4inutes of February 26, 2008 Page 14 of 28 • • demographics, then they decide how much low/moderate housing the City needs to provide. That is not linked to any other grant that we may have. Victor Ruiz stated he would like for Council Members Clark or Taylor make a motion that there should be a limit to height of 3 story levels. As far as mixed use, not against building structures, there are some that already invested money into the City; some projects have been held up for 2 years. Against any building that are higher that 3 stories; would hate to see this City turn into Harlem (ghetto). Our campaign was to clean up City and nothing has been changed. I send an email regarding some weeds that are growing in the middle of the medium in Temple City Boulevard and it can not be cleaned up. Stated that we need work on infrastructure before we can do anything else. Council Member Taylor made a motion that there be a three story limit. Council Member Clark read on street parking removal would likely be required on Rosemead and Garvey. Mr. Simon Lee, you say you would not be putting growth in the residential areas because you'd be putting it in the open space above the commercial but that again is same argument; the whole street, the whole area is residential. Asked Council to remove the part that changes R-2 to R-1; it may even invite lawsuits because it is a taking of property and there is going to be on the ballot in June. Some issues about eminent domain and taking and people are going to be really upset about his whole issue. Made a motion that Council delete that section. Council Member Taylor seconded the motion and stated that in the R-2 Ms. Low was contemplating they can build single family homes, which can be done right now. They go down and have an R-2 lot larger home and build a single family home whether it be a large home but when you reverse it the other way all of the R-1 (meant to say R-2) is now undermined in the sense everybody down there has two on their lots and will be non-conforming. Council Member Low asked if she could have staff clarify the impact of R-2 if it is reduced to a low density residential. Reason why I want to do that is to reduce the density and would like the residential to be very residential, to be very quiet. Asked Mr. Saeki to explain what the impact would be and also explain the grandfather (term). Assistant City Manager Saeki explained that in this case all comments were correct. By changing the General Plan designation from medium density residential to low density residential, in essence R2 to R1. Council Member Low asked Mr. Saeki to explain what R-1 and R-2 was; what can be build in on a lot; everyone understands R-1 is one lot one house. Mr. Saeki responded yes and no. If the lot is big enough you can subdivide your lot and build another unit but it is pretty much one house except for an accessory structure as we like to call them or granny flats. That would be allowed; this is R-1. The density for R-1 is one unit per 6000 sq. ft. the density for R-2 is one unit per 4500 sq. ft. Council Member Clark responded but you have to have 9000 sq. ft. to start with. You can't come in with 4500 sq. ft. lot and build one house. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 15 of 28 • • Council Member Low stated that overall the R-2 is basically is one house over a 4500 sq. ft. If we keep it at R-2 that doesn't mean that the area will.... (Inaudible). First thing I want to talk about the grandfather clause, which means the people that have property in the R-2 zone right now, nothing changes. If they sell the house, nothing changes. Mr. Saeki stated nothing changes. Council Member Clark responded except if it burns down or if it is a disaster you cannot rebuild it; it is legal non-conforming. Mr. Saeki stated that was correct. Council Member Low stated her whole objective was to decrease the density in certain areas Council Member Clark responded people are going to build 3 or 4 thousand s. ft. houses on those lots instead. You haven't solved the problem, please think before you do this to the area that you don't live in. Council Member Taylor asked from the majority of homes that are coming in right now, how many are R-1 and how many are R-2. Mr. Everling responded the majority are R-1; we have quite a few applications in the past since I have been here for flag lot subdivisions. Council Member Taylor asked if they qualify for a flag lot. Mr. Everling responded that was correct. Council Member Taylor stated he believed the majority of the homes in Rosemead; driven down south of the freeway between Garvey and Ramona and you see a lot of these single family homes going in there and I can't tell you the exact number but I'm going to guess that from what Mrs. Low was asking, I'm going to guess 80%.are single homes in city. Don't believe people are building smaller homes; two on the lot. They are bringing in new homes and in my opinion that is bringing Rosemead up. They are coming in and spending the money if they have, you may not agree with the 6 or 7 hundred thousand homes but they are cleaning up. Stated there was a motion on the floor, which was seconded by Ms. Clark to keep that down there as R-2. Council Member Taylor made a motion, second by Council Member Clark to leave R-2 in that southern quarter of the City. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Taylor No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 16 of 28 • • Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated he would like to make a motion to direct staff to incorporate the changes recommended by Council Member Low into the Draft General Plan, Council Member Low second motion. Council Member Clark asked what Ms. Low was going to change in the MIC, which is industrial/commercial on Garvey east of San Gabriel. Mr. Saeki stated only MIC is on San Gabriel Council Member Clark asked what the proposal was Mr. Saeki responded the proposal would be on Valley and Garvey would be high density mixeded use; on portions of Rosemead, Walnut Grove and San Gabriel would be the medium mixed use. City Manager Chi stated the proposed changes are as it relates to the draft General Plan, the document to the right. That is the document that the Council is considering now. The change Council Member Low is proposing is to change the designations as it relates to the document on the right. In that document, the MIC zone is a little sliver there, the proposal is to change that to straight, I'm assuming commercial to reduce the industrial portion of it. Lisa Brownfield, General Plan Consultant, addressed Council and stated what can be done in this case in changes to the zoning code and non-conforming use can have it in its existing use and was a legal use at the time of this designation change. That can remain in perpetuity until there is a sale of the property or a sale of the business and at that time use that needs abatement right away. Council Member Clark stated you have essentially taken the people's property. Ms. Brownfield responded no because you have given that parcel another use; they can transition to another use. The designation which would leave this commercial would remain. Council Member Clark responded that if somebody wanted to come in with a different use that you are trying to promote here. They come in with something everybody likes, they ask for a General Plan amendment and zone change. You approve it, they get it. Stated these were Gestapo tactics; we can change it. We did it for Wal-Mart over the objection of a lot of people. Council over my objection approved two General Plan amendments and zone changes for high density mixed use projects in the last 3 months. We don't need this General Plan change on this section because when a project comes in, if it's more, doesn't meet the code, they ask for a General Plan amendment and a zone change and it gets done. We still have the "hammer" in our hands; we can require them to do this. Stated especially taking property and changing the zone that someone has without researching it and finding out what that is going to do to that particular business. Let's say he wants to expand it; he won't be able to expand it. Ms. Brownfield responded that was correct, if it was non-conforming use. Council Member Low. asked if we have any commercial and industrial mixed use Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of Febneary 26, 2008 Page 17 of 28 • Assistant City Manager Saeki responded we have very few projects that are commercial and industrial mixed use; we just approved one on Valley and Strang. Ms. Low reiterated currently that area that is being designated in the draft General Plan, what is it now, what is the definition in the old plan. Assistant City Manager Saeki responded it was commercial. Council Member Low stated that she was saying that by removing that it would revert back; it would basically be what it is now. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated it would basically be the same. Council Member Clark asked what about industrial; what part is industrial; you guys do not even know what you are talking about and you are going to change it all with a stroke of a pen. Council Member Low stated that right now it was commercial. Assistant City Manager Saeki stated that currently the General Plan designation is commercial in that area; if there is existing industrial use there now, it is non-conforming. Ms. Brownfield asked why not take the recommendation, study it, and then bring it back. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez called for the question. Council Member Taylor stated he would like to make a substitute motion that we change the density on Ms. Low's question. Change it to a low density on all streets. Made the motion to make it to 14 units per acre, instead of 30 units. Council Member Taylor made a motion, second by Council Member Clark to keep at 14 units per acre. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Taylor No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Mayor Pro Tem Nunez made a motion, second by Council Member Low to adopt Ms. Low's recommendations. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: Norte Absent: None Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of Febntary 26, 2008 Page 18 of 28 • • Council Member Clark stated the Economical Development Chapter states that the government code states once an optional element is adopted, which it is right now, it has the same force and authority as mandatory elements. Stated she did not have a problem with the chapter itself but did not like the density. Have a problem with adopting that and making it a mandate because anybody that has been to Sacramento and knows how the State treats us often, we should not to ask for an unfunded mandate. The League of Cities' whole mantra is local control so that the citizens and the City can do their own thing and not be mandated by the State. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez responded the League of Cities supported the RHNA, the States, and adoption. San Gabriel COG does support also. Now you have problems with the way the formula was set up but still all the organizations around the area support it. Ms. Clark stated that this had nothing to do with the RHNA process; this is talking about putting a chapter in and we make a mandate on ourselves. Asked staff what their opinion was on this. City Manager Chi responded the detailed plan includes the Economic Development Section. It does become a mandated section of our General Plan which we have to abide by and follow the elements that are listed in that Economic Development Section. In researching and discussing this with staff, believe the reason that it was included in this particular edition of the draft General Plan is that it is in our existing General Plan. There was an economic development section that was carried forward and updated into the currently daft General Plan that is before the Council's consideration tonight. From staff's perspective, there is no problem with removing that section from the General Plan. Having that section in there does require us to abide by those rules and regulations. The recommendations in that section are rightly so vague and general in nature. Again, that is the decision for the Council to make ultimately. It is not something that we need in the General Plan to move forward but it is also something that could be included. Council Member Clark made a motion, second by Council Member Taylor to remove the Economic Development Section from the Draft General Plan. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None . Abstain: None Absent: None Council Member Clark stated she had a problem with bicycle lanes on major thoroughfares, which are already rated D and F, that is an accident waiting to happen; put them in parks but not in major streets. Made a motion to remove that from General Plan. Alejandro Gandara, Rosemead resident, as we move forward people talk about energy saving, it's a thing you should take time to look at; this is well for your health. I drive my bike and so does my daughter and we are quite aware that we have to look out for cars. It is important people get use to that; when you want to save energy and you are looking to the future and emphasize the importance of people getting exercise, you should do it and at least look at what other Cities are doing. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 19 of 28 Mayor Tran stated he had no problem including the bike lanes in the plan because any lane that would be implemented would have to come back to council; there would have to be study made; have no problems supporting this. Mayor Tran made substitute motion, second by Mayor Pro Tern Nunez to include bike lanes in the General Plan. Vote resulted in: Yes: Low, Nunez, Tran No: Clark, Taylor Abstain: None Absent: None Council Member Taylor clarified he voted no on that item because it is a safety problem; our major arteries are rated F because of the high volume of traffic. Mayor Tran stated that it is important that if someone wants to leave their house they can use their bikes instead of using a vehicle; this promotes less traffic, healthier life style, and I have no problem with supporting the bike pass. Council Member Clark discussed the environmental items that Brian Lewin wanted in the General Plan. Brian Lewin stated that if they are going to remodel; we would require them to include energy savings design; also adding new policy that energy saving vehicles can have priority parking. My suggestions were that for new buildings and refurbish building in the City that we require energy saving requirements and features to be built into those things; obviously city will decide what those would be. This is just telling people we need more energy efficiency; examples would be moisture sensors for sprinkler system. City Manager Chi stated that if Council is interested in pursuing that rather than putting into the General Plan that you direct staff to review it and bring back as an ordinance. All that be consolidated and enforced instead of put in General Plan. Assistant City Manager Saeki, we do most of it now Title 24; any project that needs; standard approval; condition of approval. Council Member Clark stated she wanted to have that brought back. 3. PUBLIC COMMENT FROM THE AUDIENCE Mayor Pro-Tem Nunez stated he would like to remove his item 6B from the agenda. Sheryl Blum, 4824 Earle Avenue, read the definition of business by Rosemead standards and read the off street parking and loading requirements for businesses. She stated that was everything that was being spoken about tonight; she talked about health institutions parking requirements; a few weeks back there was a tentative parcel map, they consolidated twenty seven parcels into one parcel located on Delta Avenue and Mission Drive. This is the California Mission Inn, which I live across from. The nursing center Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 20 of 28 & a was established in 1959; in 1960 the Planning Commission approved expansion privileges with less things than required parking. This is an important place and they provide a great service but whoever planned it, the service entrance, the employee entrance, all the loading and unloading happens on Earle Avenue, which is foots away from the residential side. Between California Mission Inn, Medic One, Rose Manor, and the Rehabilitation, they have 80 full time employees if not more, for 7 days a week and at least 16 hours a day and they have no employee parking; Asked where the accountability was, this business has not provided parking for employees because they can just park on street. She stated she has dealt with this issue for two and half years, the employees park on the west side of Earle and leave east side for the visitors. Trying to make it a win/win situation because I live here; I count on you to take care of me, because that is why we have these codes. If we do not live up to the codes someone comes and enforces it. It is very important if the employer had the respect to provide parking for their employees. If city honored their word to enforce the code this employer would have had to have made a parking structure on their property. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked staff if that company had just gotten sold. City Planner Everting stated he was not sure if it had gotten sold but stated that he had a discussion with Ms. Blum about a week ago; she came to the counter in relation to tentative parcel map, that was approved by the Planning Commission, was in response by the applicant to a fulfillment on one of their conditions of approval for their expansion that they actually had to assemble their parcels in one parcel from twenty seven to one. Staff did research in staff report for the tentative parcel map and found that previous years ago there was actually a zoning variance approved to allow them to have reduction in the number of parking spaces. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez asked how long the zone variance lasts and asked if there is a change of owner if the city could pull their variance at that point. City Planner Everting responded the variance itself would run with the land and stated the variance could not be pulled unless they were in violation of the findings of that variance. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez responded that they just made a major change in their structure, from all those different lots into one lot, at that point don't we have a say so about variance we had at the past and change them to be more up to date. City Planner Everling responded that during the time of their request to expand would have been the time to address the parking issue. Ms. Blum responded that having been made aware, and yes notices went out 300 feet from the Ramon Health Association, which is on Delta, so who got the notices, the Water Company or the people who own the park. Asked why the entrance could not be put on Delta and give all the employees parking on Delta. Mayor Tran asked to bring in the Health Care and ask them to change their entrance to Delta because they still need a lot to remodel and maybe they will act in good faith and work with City. I Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 21 of 28 • 0 Ms. Blum added that also for their yearly event when they have 250 people show up, she suggested that they rent the parking lot from the Water Company. Mayor Tran stated Council shares the concern and suggested that all the health care companies be brought in to see if there is an opportunity to talk to them see if we can work with traffic and parking situation and also address their annual event issue. City Planner Everling stated staff could look at it through their temporary use permit process for their annual events. City Manager Chi responded that staff will continue to pursue this. Jim Flournoy stated that the Governor's Emergency Preparedness was going to have a training named "The Golden Guardian". It turns out that a site called WNDC is the most dangerous spot in LA and Orange County; we are not only in red zone but purple zone around the City; asked that the city pay for some simulation cost. Lou Zwick, stated he had three things he would like to talk about. First thing had to do with quiet zone; having lived in that area can't help but notice the train that goes by all night long. Quiet zone requires a lot of money but I think if we are talking about quality of life, we should look at quiet zone. Next thing, asked what could be done regarding getting a market in Rosemead. Third he spoke of an Asian family who had their caps on the wall stolen and were afraid to contact the Sheriffs Department; should have someone on duty who speaks Vietnamese. Council Member Clark asked that staff look into quiet zone and having interpreters available in the Sheriff's department. Lieutenant Oshea stated the desk personnel had access to translators of all languages. Station is just not staffed to have Vietnamese translators. City Manager Chi stated that there is staff in the Public Safety Center that speaks Vietnamese. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Resolution No. 2008.15 Claims and Demands Recommendation: Adopt Resolution No. 2008 -15, for payment of City expenditures in the amount of $754,307.31 numbered 59063 through 59114 and 61726 through 61867. i B. Purchasing Ordinance Second Reading Ordinance 864 was approved at the first reading on February 12, 2008. Per the Government iCode, Ordinance must be approved at a second meeting. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes ofFebrzeary 26, 2008 Page 22 of 28 Recommendation: That the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 864. C. Request for Red Curb on the West Side of Rosemead Boulevard North of Mission Drive On February;7, 2008, the Traffic Commission reviewed this item at the request of the Commission Chair. At this meeting, the Commission approved staff's recommendation that red curb be added on the west side of Rosemead Boulevard, north of Mission Drive. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Traffic Commission's recommendation to install red curb on the west side of Rosemead Boulevard, north of Mission Drive. Request for Green Curb at 9442 E. Valley Boulevard On February 7, 2008, the Traffic Commission reviewed this item in response to a request from a local business owner. At this meeting, the Commission approved staff's recommendation that a green curb be added at 9442 E. Valley Boulevard, just in front of Tony's Liquor Store. Recommendation: That the City Council approve the Traffic Commission's recommendation to install a green curb at 9442 E. Valley Boulevard, adjacent to Tony's Liquor Store. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez made motion, second by Council Member Taylor to approve Consent Calendar and its recommendations. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Low, Nunez, Taylor, Tran No: None Abstain: None Absent: None 5. MATTERS FROM CITY MANAGER & STAFF A. Award of Contract for City Transit Services On November 20, 2007, the City Council approved specifications for transportation services and authorized staff to solicit bids from seven qualified transit services providers. As part of the new contract award, the selected vendor will provide the City with new vehicles for transit services, the ability to provide alternative fuels and reduce vehicle emissions, improved marketing and outreach, and access to new technologies in the transit services industry. The proposed contract will begin on September 1, 2008. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 23 of 28 • • Recommendation: That the City Council approve the terms and award a five-year agreement with Southland Transit, Inc. through June 30, 2013 to provide transit services in the City of Rosemead. i. City Manager Chi asked Council to pull this item from agenda to bring back to Council with additional information. Council Member Taylor asked if staff will give Council the three proposals so that they can read them. Also stated he was puzzled with current contractor's contract; question dollar amounts. Stated he was trying to figure out why all three bids jumped 200,000 dollars. Chris Marcarello responded part of the RFP was to get the contract per fiscal year. The first year of the contract is for 10 months instead of the 12 months. i City Manager Chi reiterated that there was additional work that needed to be done and it will be brought back to the Council. 6. MATTERS FROM MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL A. Request to Consider the Censure of Mayor Pro Tern Nunez Council Member Taylor has requested that the City Council consider the censure of Mayor Pro Tern Nunez for his role in the Mazone v. City of Rosemead sexual harassment case. In addition, Council Member Taylor has also requested the following information: • The total cost as it relates to the Mazone v. City of Rosemead case, including . settlement costs, JPIA attorney costs, City Attorney costs, and any associated City Attorney costs regarding the referral of Council Member Taylor to the Grand Jury. • The complaint filed in the Mazone v. City of Rosemead case. • The answer fled by the City's JPIA appointed attorney, Declues, Burkett & Thompson. • The minutes of the October 9, 2007 City Council meeting. • The minutes of the January 8, 2008 City Council meeting. • An update on the status of the referral of Council Member Taylor to the Grand Jury'. Also, Council Member Taylor requested a copy of the Tess Elconin investigative report. However, staff was advised by the City Attorney that even though the report was published by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the City is not allowed to disclose that report. Therefore, we have not included a copy of that document as part of this report. i Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 24 of 28 Juan Nunez, Rosemead resident, asked why this has been brought out to open when the public can know what is happening; City Attorney is covering up. Marlene Shinen, 8447 Drayer Lane, South San Gabriel, commended Mayor Tran for conducting the meeting very well. Addressed Mayor Pro Tern Nunez and stated that when running for Rosemead he stated he wanted to clean up the City; when you spoke to me about South San Gabriel you said you would make clean border line. Clean of indecency to rid of crime and corruption, meaning dishonest, immoral, tainted; a trace of bad quality. City Attorney Garcia was voted in when this was going to be brought to City Council; did he not represent you in the Garvey Lawsuit on another charge against you on sexual harassment. Council Member Taylor asked to look at notes and he was denied; facts have been secret. There is no justice here for anyone; has corruption been invited to the City? The public has the right to expect ethical behavior. Jim Flournoy stated the sexual harassment case was not brought up until 2 years later; this got blown out of hand and then you have a case of settlement. Someone said how this was someone looking to make a quick buck; I don't think Mr. Garcia represented Mr. Nunez, it was the City. People talking out of turn; got people excited and now it is said that things were brought out that were in close session and is going to be more expensive. You need to'just let it go. Alejandro Gandara stated sexual harassment is an interesting subject matter and City's and many businesses are extremely vulnerable; Need to do something about it because your staff is very vulnerable; there are many sexual vultures waiting around for that time to get someone; settlements like that there are processes to go to. Just feeling uncomfortable you can file a lawsuit like that. Asking people to take a seat and ask about children can make it uncomfortable for some people. Hard to protect your staff; look into; anyone who keeps to continually bringing it up has a self serve purpose; I hope the City spends no more money on it, this case was settled. Why spend more time on this matter when this is done. Council Member Taylor asked Mr. Gandara if he knew about the whole case; he didn't just invite her into his office. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez responded he had not invited her into his office; she came into my office. Mr. Gandara stated that his point is very simple that someone can feel uncomfortable; the City is vulnerable to the possibility of lawsuits of sexual harassment. Council Member Taylor stated that he would like to give Mr. Nunez the opportunity to write a letter of apology to four young women here in City Hall. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated he did not know what he was talking about. Council Member Taylor stated it is in the report and all he is asking is that he send an apology letter to these four women; they need to be respected. I Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated he would send an apology letter to all female staff members of the City. You could have asked me to do that privately. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 25 of 28 Council Member Taylor responded he had denied everything. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez responded that he denied doing anything sexually. The report says I grabbed her; that I grabbed her arm. Council Member Taylor asked who the JPIA interviewed. I was shocked and disgusted because it was a total crucifixion of that young lady. Mayor Pro Tern Nunez stated he would write a letter to all female staff members; I need to make an apology to all staff whether they are female or male if I made them uncomfortable. Council Member Clark stated;"if I made you uncomfortable" that is not an apology. Council Member Low stated they (Taylor and Clark) had asked Mr. Nunez to apologize and he agreed; this case is settled; do we really need to spend everyone time here. Council Member Taylor responded we have spent $400,000 and he still claims he is innocent. Council Member Low stated that she thought we are assume innocent until proven guilty; the case is settle can we let everyone move on with their lives. Every time it is brought up, no one benefits from it. Council Member Taylor stated it clarifies that Mr. Nunez did do some very disrespectful treatment to our employees. i Council Member Low responded that was his opinion; I am not a judge; let's just move on. Council Member Clark stated that when Mr. Nunez spoke on January 22nd; he accused the employees of lying because he said they were not under oath. Mayor Pro Tem Nunez stated that the only thing he has read was what posted on the internet by the Tribune. Council Member Low stated she strongly supported the sexual harassment law; as a working woman I value this protection, when it is unwelcome. Did the victim tell the person it was unwelcome, they didn't tell management. Should the City be sued because one employee put a hand on someone's shoulder; if these questions are unwelcome then this should be brought up to management. In the investigative report the statement is that this was not expressed to management and did not take it all the way. i Council Member Taylor asked, where it referenced the "million dollar or so". It has been repeated up here that they would have settled for less. Council Member Low respond) d the bottom line was that this was settled; this is embarrassing situation for all parties including the City. Let the people move on with their lives. Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 26 of 28 • 0 Council Member Clark stated that based on facts, it appears this is being trivialized and that therefore it is being swapped up under the rug; this really bothers me. Feel obligated to make a motion to censure Mr. Nunez, second by Taylor. Council Member Taylor read investigative report. Mayor Tran called for the question. Council Member Clark made motion, second by Council Member Taylor to censure Mr. Nunez. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Taylor No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Council Member Taylor stated Mr. Garcia was had a report for them regarding the Grand Jury and the cost. City Attorney Bonifacio Garcia stated it had been filed. Council Member Taylor asked Mr. Chi if Mr. Garcia was going to bring some information to Council tonight. I City Manager Chi responded that with his conversations with Mr. Garcia, he had stated he was in the process of putting together an i update as it relates to cost and the status of the case. Council Member Taylor asked that he would like it verbatim on the minutes for the Grand Jury Council Member Taylor made motion, second by Council Member Clark to have this section of the minutes verbatim. Vote resulted in: Yes: Clark, Taylor No: Low, Nunez, Tran Abstain: None Absent: None Council Member Low, read from the letter against women against sexual harassment; letter was threatening; things that said; someone is warning me that if I support this; ask staff to please make sure; (Earlier Mr. Nunez had requested that the following item be removed.) Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2008 Page 27 of 28 0 • Request to Consider the Censure of Council Member Taylor Mayor Pro Tern Nunez has requested the City Council consider the censure of Council Member Taylor for the breach of closed session confidence. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 12:30 a.m. The next regular City Council meeting is scheduled to take place on March 25, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Approved: Gloria Molleda CITY CLERK John Tran MAYOR Rosemead City Council Meeting Minutes o`Fel-uary 26, 2008 Page 28 of 28