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U nofficial until approved by the
Alhambra City Council
M INUTES
ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting
March 13 , 2024
10 :00 a.m.
R O LL C A L L : A t 10:28 a . m . , on Wed nesday, March 13 , 2 0 24 , t h e A lh a m bra C it y C o u nc il m et in R uth R e e se H a ll of t he A lh a m b r a C iv ic C e n ter L ibr a r y , 1 0 1 So u t h F irst S t r e e t , A lh a m br a , C a lif orn ia .
CITY COUNCIL: P R E S E N T : MALONEY, P É REZ, ANDRADE-STADLER , MAZA A B S E N T : LEE
O ff i c i als P rese n t: City Manager Binnquist, Assistant City Manager Garcia, Deputy City Manager Stover, City Attorney Montes, City Cl e rk Myles , Director of Parks & Recreation Macias, Director of Library Services LohGuan, Director of Public Works/Utilities Ray , Director of Finance Lieu, Director of Human Resources Ko, Director of Community Development Ho, Fire Chief Ragusa, Chief of P oli c e Kenned y , Dep uty Director of Public Works /Utilities A hlen A lso present w a s F a c ilita to r W illia m R . K e lly , P re s id e n t/C E O o f K e lly A s s o c ia te s M a n a g e m e n t G ro u p CITY CLERK REPOR T - NOTICE NO. N2M 2 4- 34
The City Clerk reported that she duly gave notice of the Special Meeting of the City Counci l being held th is morning pursuant to the order of the Mayor and in accordance with Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of Californ ia.
1. O RAL COMMUNICATIONS – F2 M24-4
1) P .J. GUIDA, 808 N. Bushnell Av e., spoke against S hort Term Rentals (STR) and also submitted his comments via email which are on file in the City Clerk ’s office. 2) Ma ry HOSOKAWA, 1037 S. New Ave., discussed the need for more services and structured social recreational programs for ad ults with autism or a daptive recreation programs such as those off ere d by the City of Whittier. 3) Shirley TATSUNO, 1408 S. Fifth St., spo ke regarding trash on the sidewalks, the effects of the Bike and Pedestrian Plan o n street parking, improvements to the ACT Bus system, the effects of new zoning on residential areas for affordable housing, and the problems face d by property owners of small and mid-size a partment buildings . 4) Lewis McCAMMON, 105 N. Cordova St., discussed the incoming Chinatown Service Cent er buil ding , the expa nsion of the ACT Bus to meet the needs of new customers, the incoming Dog Park, the Historic Preservation Ordi nance, a proposed project at a potential hist oric site, the need for more affor dable housing projects and the preservation of exis ting public art .
5) Marisol G R IER, via Zoom, requested an addition of an item from the 2023 Strategic Plan , the creation of an Old Town Alhambra district.
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2 . CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION – F2 M2 4- 33 The City Council, City Manager, Departme nt Heads an d Facilita tor W il liam R. K elly , Preside nt/C EO of Kelly Associates Management Group , held a strategic planning session .
The strategic plannin g session include d , but was not limited to , a discussion of the Councilme mbers ’ SWOT (Strengths, Weakness es, Opportun ities, a n d Threats ) Ana lysis S u rvey res ults ; and, setting ten tative goal definitions and prior ities.
Mr. KELL Y began by summarizing the 6 goals prioritized by Council in the previous year and as outlined in the staff report, which is on file in the City Cler k ’s of fice. He further provided updates as to which goals were completed or ongoing.
Mr. KELLY outlined the strength s and we aknesses as identified by Council. Council went on to list additional strengths such as environmental sustainab ilit y pro jects, outreach to the community , improvements to City website, and . Council added additional we aknesses to the list such as bli ght , vacant buildings, illegal dumping, and. C ouncil discussed the we akness listed . Councilmember ANDRADE-STADLER disc ussed add itional changes to the City website to a s s ist Senior citi zens. Councilmember MALONEY highlighted the “Mobile City Hall ” pro gram , and suggested expanding the service to senior facilit ies such as the Josly n Adu lt Center.
M r. MALONEY and Mr. KELL Y discussed the listed we akness of “Parti san poli tics affecting c ity business. ” Mayor MAZA discussed the listed weakness of “H igh rent compared to other local cities, ” and suggested ways to promote or assist the increase of housing stock. Mr .
MAZA further disc ussed the need to emphasize Economic Development, real versus perceived community opposition to projects, and partisan poli tics affecting city business. Ms.
P É REZ elaborated on h er co mments regarding blig ht , Mr. M aza ’s comments regarding the need for economic development with regards to East Main Street and V alley B oulevard , and working with the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. MAZA suggested seeking an outside consulta nt to assist with economic d evelopme nt.
Mr . KEL LY went on to discuss the listed opportunities for Coun cil discussion. Ms. P É REZ dis cussed seeking more “Place Making Centers ” as it related to economic development, walkability, and urban planning. She also discussed the proposed Comm unity Center and expr essed hope at the posi tive effect it may have on the area. Ms. P É REZ discussed the id ea of seeking a food hall business as a game changer for the economic corridor. Ms.
ANDRADE -STADLER discussed the potential transportation opportuniti es to CSULA that were being wo rked on by METRO in con nection with the projects leading up to the Los Ange les Olymp ics event. She further suggested seeking youth interns for assistance with the strategic planning sessions.
Mr. MALONEY discussed changes made to the proposed de velopment at 801 E. Main due to zoning changes and further spoke regarding the need to attrac t developers while engag ing with the community. He also discussed the Bi cycle and Pedestrian Plan and opportunities for the City to purchase private propert ies for de velopment.
Mr. MAZA discussed strengths and opportunities such as an influx of job openin gs with SkyZone, developing more amen ities such as the Community Center to increase walkability on Valley Blvd., the other community benefits from the pr oposed Co mmunity Center , development p otential along East Main Street , and improvement with keeping streets clean by increased bulky item pick up s.
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Ms . P É REZ recounted her o bservation s of surrounding cities in the San Gabri el Valley and the walkability of neighbor hoods with wide side walks and mature trees. She discussed the need to be more mindful of tree trimming and planting to increase the tree canopy on the major corridors and not just the individu al neighborhoods. She explained that this would encourage pedest rians and bicycl ists. Ms. P É REZ went on to refer to the ide ntified weakness of the removal of historic building s and the lack of historical elements in new develop ments. Mr. MAZA went on to discuss the proposed development at 801 E. Main St and the ways in which the City could work with developers to produce well designed pro jects.
Mr. KE LLY went on to discuss threats to the City and the ways in which some of them hav e been addressed by the strategic plan.
In an interactive demon stration , Council each took turns indicating the weaknesses, opportunities , and threats which they fel t had not been addressed. This included high rent, lack of historical design ele ments in new developments, better connection to CSULA, p lacemaking centers, review building height s on East Main Street, purchase Foundry building, economic development o n Valley Bl vd. , more mixed-use developm ent, state mandates, traffic issues, pension liabilities, and the disappearance of small businesses. Mr.
KELLY clarified the next steps in workin g with staff to revie w the discussion and reprioritize the Strategic Plan goals. H e al so clarified the steps for pres enting the Strategic Plan to Council a nd the public.
City Manager BINNQUIST suggested that the session break for lu nch and afterwards , st aff and Council could discuss other items which were brought up over the last few months.
There was a schedu led 30-minute lunch break from approximately 12:00 p.m. to 12:31 p.m.
Ms. P É REZ and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed her suggested topic of “Coun cil meetin g norms, procedures, and decorum. ” Ms . P É REZ clarified that rather than formulate a formal review of Council proc edures, she would prefer more open communication between Councilmembers.
City Attorney MONTE S and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed various options emplo yed by other city councils . Mr. MALONEY continued to discuss and Mr. MONTES provided clarifi cation.
Mr. MAZA expressed that he also did not want to take up s taff ’s time to resear ch or draft a policy, but rather that Council could ma ke adjustments during th e meeting and tha t he wanted to be cautious of placing limitations on Co uncil as the voice of the community. Ms.
P É REZ supported comments made by Mr. M ontes and Mr. Maza.
In another interactive demonstrat ion Council reviewed new ite ms highlighted by staf f a s well as the it ems previ ously indicated by them, and reassessed their priorit ized goals. This included incentives for commercial uses on the ground floor of the downtown, speed humps , City speed policy, minimum wage, rent stabilization, Council meeting nor ms and procedures, high visibility cross walks and safety measures around school sites, commercial and residential design guidelines, and short-term rentals.
Mr. MAZA and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed the comm ercial design guidelines. Mr.
MALONEY , Mr. KELL Y , and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed the traffic calming p olicy , speed humps, and City sp ee d policy . Ms. P É REZ and Ms. BINNQUIST continued to discu ss the Active Tr ans p ortation Plan and the ways a City Speed P olicy would apply to specific streets .
Mr. MALONEY cla rified that he would prefer a n overall Traffic Calming Policy which would employ methods such as speed humps.
Mr. KELL Y asked if there were any prioritized it ems Council woul d like to reevaluate. Ms.
P É REZ and Mr. KELLY discussed the macro goals v ersus the granu lar details. M s. 4 3-13-24
ANDRADE-STADLER requested the addition of student in ternship opportunities . Mr. KELLY clarified the next steps for staff regarding finalizing the Strategic Plan.
Mayor MAZA thanked Mr. Kelly, staff, the community members, and Co uncil for all their work.
A DJOURNMENT: At 1:00 p .m. , Mayo r Maza adjourned the meeting.
LAUREN MYLES , CMC
CITY CLE RK