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Unofficial until approved by the
Alhambra City Council
MINUTES
ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL
Special Meeting
March 13, 2025
10:00 a.m.
ROLL CALL: At 10:08 a.m., on Thursday, March 13, 2025, the Alhambra City Council met in Ruth Reese Hall of the Alhambra Civic Center Library, 101 South First Street, Alhambra, California.
CITY COUNCIL: PRESENT: MAZA, MALONEY, WANG, ANDRADE-STADLER, LEE ABSENT: NONE
Officials Present: City Manager Binnquist, Assistant City Manager Garcia, Deputy City Manager Stover, City Attorney Montes, City Clerk 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 Police Kennedy, Deputy Director of Public Works/Utilities Ahlen, Manager Analyst Alvarez Also present was Facilitator William R. Kelly, President/CEO of Kelly Associates Management Group CITY CLERK REPORT - NOTICE NO. N2M25-34
The City Clerk hereby reported that she duly gave notice of the Special Meeting of the City Council being held this morning pursuant to the order of the Mayor and in accordance with Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California.
1. CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION – F2M25-28
The City Council, City Manager, Department Heads and Facilitator William Kelly, President/CEO of Kelly Associates Management Group, held a strategic planning session on March 4, 2025 to update the City ’s Strategic Plan adopted in 2024. The Draft Strategic Plan contains six Goals, defined as follows: Goal 1: Enhance Public Safety; Goal 2: Improve Infrastructure and Mobility; Goal 3: Create a Strong Financial Base and Strong Economic Base (Economic Development); Goal 4: Enhance Transparency and Open Governance; Goal 5:
Promote Sustainability; and, Goal 6: Improve Housing Opportunities, and an Implementation Plan to provide details and metrics to monitor the
Plan. The City Council will review and discuss the Draft Strategic Plan.
Public Comment:
1) Lewis MCCAMMON, 105 N. Cordova Ave., discussed economic development of Main Street and the areas which have needed improvement. He went on to discuss housing development with regards to the areas in the East Main Corridor as well as the preservation of historic buildings. He discussed the current economic uncertainty and the challenges impeding new businesses opening. Mr. McCammon also discussed the recent Planning C o mmission meetings and recent meeting trends.
2) John BWARIE, representing the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce, discussed Goal 3 and highlighted discussion items from the previous Strategic Planning Session. He made suggestions to the goals and objectives which would better support economic development, improve business relations, and provide metrics to better establish measures 2 3-13-25
of success in economic programs. He also made further suggestions for Council ’s consideration in offering support to the business community. 3) Bernice ORTEGA, discussed the Chamber of Commerce ’s role in supporting the business community rather than the City government. She discussed the Neighborhood Watch program, the former Crime Prevention Office in the Police Department, public outreach by the Police Department, disaster preparedness plans for the public, homeless services, the dog park, and the use of multiple languages for signage on city buildings.
Discussion: Mr. KELLY and Council reviewed discussion points from the previous Strategic Planning Session. Beginning with the updated Objective 1.1, under Goal 1, Council discussed methods to improve the Neighborhood Watch program and emergency preparedness.
Councilmember WANG suggested a dedicated neighborhood liaison at City Hall to attend local meetings, a fund to provide food or materials to residents at local Neighborhood Watch meetings, collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce to promote local businesses, and prioritize street light improvements to ensure public safety.
Councilmember ANDRADE-STADLER supported Ms. Wang ’s suggestion to prioritize street light improvements as a public safety measure, highlighted the existing Coffee with a Cop program as a means of community outreach to Neighborhood Watch programs, suggested renewing a relationship with the American Red Cross to use school facilities in the event of an emergency, and suggested the use of social media connected to Neighborhood Watch programs.
Vice Mayor MALONEY and City Manager BINNQUIST discussed the average number of Neighborhood Watch meetings, discussed ways the City could provide information and resources to Neighborhood Watch programs such as a City Liaison and a toolkit, and discussed other ways the City could support the program. Mr. MALONEY supported social media campaigns, posters at the parks in various languages, and articles in “Around Alhambra ” to raise awareness of the Neighborhood Watch program. Mr. MALONEY supported additional town hall meetings to raise awareness and education in disaster preparedness.
Councilmember MAZA supported Council ’s comments, supported partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, supported street light maintenance and improvements to Main Street, and further discussed adding additional Neighborhood Watch meetings. Mayor LEE also discussed the Neighborhood Watch program, cautioned against overwhelming Neighborhood Watch Captains, using outside resources from other government agencies to provide information, resources, and training to residents. Ms. LEE supported partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and prioritizing street light improvements. Ms. WANG suggested staff develop an emergency preparedness checklist to provide to residents. Ms. BINNQUIST summarized and discussed Council ’s suggestions.
Mr. KELLY went on to discuss updated Objective 2.11 “Development of City Branding, Including New Wayfinding Signage. ”
V ice Mayor MALONEY suggested creating an inventory of existing public signs. Mayor LEE and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed replacing existing wayfinding neighborhood signs for different tracts.
Mr. KELLY moved on to Objective 2.12. Councilmember ANDRADE-STADLER and Ms.
BINNQUIST discussed elevator maintenance at public parking structures, revised schedules in collaboration with the Downtown Business Association, and increased security at parking structures. Vice Mayor MALONEY highlighted the need to collaborate and expand services 3 3-13-25
with the Downtown Business Association. Councilmember MAZA discussed the importance of this item in connection with economic development.
Councilmember WANG supported and briefly discussed Objective 2.14 “Study critical City facilities for seismic retrofitting. ” Mr. MALONEY and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed improvements to railroad bridges.
Mr. MALONEY and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed Objective 6.5 regarding a Transit Occupancy Tax as a 2026 Ballot Measure.
Ms. ANDRADE-STADLER and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed Objective 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 with regards to vacant businesses. They also discussed Objective 3.8 and the timeline for permit approval.
Mr. MAZA and Ms. BINNQUIST further discussed Objective 3.9 and suggestions made by Mr.
Bwarie such as a micro-grant business program to encourage local brick and mortar shopping versus online shopping, a city business recognition program, and a Council subcommittee to work with the Chamber of Commerce. Ms. ANDRADE-STADLER discussed providing assistance to smaller fast -food businesses in an effort to move to better locations on Main Street. Mr. MAZA went on to make additional suggestions to provide outreach to businesses on Main Street via a micro-grant and a Shop Local Program. He also suggested incorporating these programs in other Objectives. Mr. MALONEY suggested additional discussion at a later date of this item and other plans for Economic Development. Ms. WANG supported additional discussion. Ms. WANG and Mr. MAZA went on to discuss outreach to local businesses and suggested. Ms. ANDRADE-STADLER and Ms. BINNQUIST discussed Objective 3.10.
Regarding Objective 4.3 Mr. MALONEY and Ms. WANG suggested continuing to use traditional as well as digital signage at public facilities. Ms. WANG requested a bulletin board at Granada Park. Mr. MALONEY further discussed Objective 4.4 and suggested that the City app also be used for information and communication with residents. Ms. WANG discussed additional suggestions for the city app. Ms. LEE suggested that residents receive progress updates for service requests. Ms. BINNQUIST discussed the development of an app and the limitations of the app ’s capabilities. Ms. ANDRADE-STADLER suggested including a date for response to better track completion of service requests.
Ms. WANG added that all objectives which have been removed from the Strategic Plan are listed as Accomplishments .
Mr. MALONEY requested an update on Goal 5, and the funding for the Sustainability Plan.
Mr. MALONEY further suggested seeking backup funds through state programs. Ms.
ANDRADE-STADLER suggested involving Senator P é rez ’s office.
Mr. MALONEY discussed Objective 6.5 and its relation to other Objectives. Ms. BINNQUIST requested additional clarification regarding Objectives 6.5 and 3.6. Mr. MALONEY suggested combining the Objectives under a focus study. Mr. MAZA suggested separating the Objectives so that one focused on housing and the other focused on businesses. Mr. MALONEY and Mr.
MAZA continued to discuss.
Mr. MALONEY suggested an additional Objective Goal to make a renewed Master Plan for Water Plan Improvements. He suggested a citywide discussion with regards to water plan improvements as part of disaster preparedness and updates to infrastructure. Ms.
ANDRADE-STADLER suggested Council tour the Utilities water treatment facility. Ms. WANG agreed with Mr. Maloney ’s suggestion, but added that this potential problem extended beyond 4 3-13-25
City resources. She added that it would be good to begin review of the situation now rather than wait for emergency.
Mr. MALONEY requested the addition of outreach for the Open Streets events as part of the promotion of the Bike/Ped Plan.
Action Taken: City Council reviewed the 2025 City of Alhambra Draft Strategic Plan and directed staff as deemed appropriate.
ADJOURNMENT: At 11:32 a.m., Mayor LEE adjourned the meeting.
LAUREN MYLES, CMC
CITY CLERK
by
BRIANNA LAMB MCCARTHY
ASSISTANT CITY CLERK