14-C
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
ATTENTION: Jeffrey L. Stewart, City Manager
FROM: Mayra Ochiqui, City Clerk
SUBJECT: Consideration and possible action to approve the Minutes of the May 3, 2022, Special Meeting of the City Council.
DATE: May 23, 2022
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
None
RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL
1) Approve the May 3, 2022, Special Meeting Minutes; or
2) Alternatively, discuss and take other action related to this item.
FISCAL IMPACT
None
ATTACHMENT
Minutes of the May 3, 2022, Special Meeting… .......................... ………………………… 2
11 MINUTES
CITY OF BELLFLOWER
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BELLFLOWER CITY COUNCIL
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022, 10:00 A.M.
BELLFLOWER CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The City Council Chambers was open to the public. Per the Los Angeles County Health Officer Order effective March 4, 2022, it was strongly recommended, but not required, to wear a face covering when inside Bellflower City Hall.
1 CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Dunton called the Special Meeting to order at 10:00 a.m.
2 ROLL CALL
The following Members of the City Council responded present to roll call.
Mayor Ray Dunton
Mayor Pro Tem Sonny R. Santa Ines
Council Member Raymond Y. Hamada
Council Member Dan Koops
Council Member Victor A. Sanchez
Staff Participants:
Jeffrey L. Stewart, City Manager
Karl H. Berger, City Attorney
Mayra Ochiqui, City Clerk
Jim DellaLonga, Director of Economic Development
Travis Sais, Assistant to the City Manager
Jennifer Poole-Eidd, Management Assistant
3 PUBLIC COMMENTS
For the record, there was no one in the audience wishing to provide public comments.
2 Bellflower City Council Special Meeting Minutes Item No. 4-A May 3, 2022 Page 2 of 4
4 STUDY SESSION
A Consideration and possible action to conduct a City Council Study Session on potential ballot measures for the November 2022 ballot: 1) Underutilized Commercial Property Tax; and 2) City Charter.
City Manager Stewart introduced the item.
Director of Economic Development DellaLonga 1) gave a PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of the Underutilized Commercial Property Tax matter; and 2) along with City Attorney Berger and City Manager Stewart, responded to Council Members’ questions.
Mayor Pro Tem Santa Ines, 1) requested and received clarification from City Manager Stewart that although “underutilized” and “unutilized” were both used in the presentation, the intent is to focus on vacancies (“unutilized”) and not assess existing uses; and 2) stated that if this is to go before the voters, that a clear definition of “unutilized” needs to be developed and included to avoid appeals and litigation.
Following brief discussion, 1) City Manager Stewart clarified that current Bellflower Municipal Code Section 8.40.030 (Vacant Properties) gives the City the latitude for implementation and already establishes a definition for a vacancy as 90 days vacant, which could work in tandem with annual inventory list since the current regulations require it; and 2) City Attorney Berger further clarified that vacant properties regulations are already enforced with regard to improvements and maintenance and the definition for vacant property is defined as any real property that is undeveloped or has an existing onsite structure or other improvement, including without limitation, improved parking lots or spaces that is either abandoned, vacant, or un-leased by the responsible party for 90 days.
For the record, Council Member Koops 1) stated that he is a commercial property owner in five different cities, but given the pandemic, has had difficulty getting a renter for his Bellflower property and expressed the opinion that a vacant building is not advantageous to a property owner; and 2) expressed concern for commercial property owners that are unable to obtain and maintain a tenant in a certain amount of time which, for a smaller-sized building, could result in a bill that would exceed the annual rent they would have collected.
Council Member Hamada, 1) requested and received clarification from Director DellaLonga and City Manager Stewart with regard to the City creating the tax concept primarily on their own, however the City and County of San Francisco has a similar tax currently in place and the City of Modesto is currently considering the implementation of a similar tax as well; 2) questioned whether the tax would work against communities by depressing the property values and make it less attractive to come to Bellflower; and 3) requested and received clarification from City Manager Stewart that the tax would be assessed on the fiscal year schedule and a sunset clause had not yet been considered.
3 Bellflower City Council Special Meeting Minutes Item No. 4-A May 3, 2022 Page 3 of 4
4 STUDY SESSION – Continued
A Consideration and possible action to conduct a City Council Study Session on potential ballot measures for the November 2022 ballot: 1) Underutilized Commercial Property Tax; and 2) City Charter – Continued
Council Member Sanchez 1) expressed the opinion that exemptions will be a key component to this tax; 2) stated that he would like to explore a built-in CPI (Consumer Price Index) component and a sunset clause; 3) would be in favor of increasing the max cap and lowering the minimum, as well as utilizing the annual tax rolls as the collection mechanism; and 4) questioned whether there was enough time to develop a citizens advisory ad hoc subcommittee , similar to the ones created for Measure P and the charter, to gather community input.
In response to Council Member Sanchez’ question of whether there was enough time to develop a citizens advisory ad hoc subcommittee, 1) at the request of City Manager Stewart, City Clerk Ochiqui stated that the deadline to submit a request to consolidate a ballot measure election with the County is August 12, 2022; and 2) City Manager Stewart stated that it may be possible for an Ad Hoc Subcommittee to meet once or twice to take a snapshot of their point of view, but that he would also like to engage Consultant Richard Bernard of FM3 to gather his input on the viability of both proposed measures.
At the request of Mayor Dunton, Director DellaLonga and City Manager Stewart clarified that a vacant retail building and a vacant lot would be taxed at the same rate, noting that the City would need to be careful not to set different standards.
For the record, Mayor Dunton 1) expressed the opinion that to be fair then, the vacant retail building and vacant lot should be taxed per square foot of land; 2) if a property goes vacant after the first annual assessment, then there would be a grace period there, but if a lot has been vacant for ten years, then the tax will go into effect on the first year; and 3) expressed the opinion that this proposed tax is not a money grab or only about cost recovery, but it’s about getting the property recycled and used, which is healthy.
For the record, Mayor Pro Tem Santa Ines 1) stated that the tax would sunset automatically as the properties are developed; and 2) noted that the city to the south of Bellflower only has three vacant lots, including one that is City-owned.
At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Santa Ines, Mayor Dunton polled his City Council colleagues relative to whether there is an appetite to move forward to direct staff to gather more information relative to the proposed Underutilized Commercial Property Tax for City Council consideration at a future study session. It was a consensus of the City Council to do so.
4 Bellflower City Council Special Meeting Minutes Item No. 4-A May 3, 2022 Page 4 of 4
4 STUDY SESSION – Continued
A Consideration and possible action to conduct a City Council Study Session on potential ballot measures for the November 2022 ballot: 1) Underutilized Commercial Property Tax; and 2) City Charter – Continued
For the record, Council Member Koops requested that when Consultant Bernard provides information at a future meeting, that the City Council determine whether the City should move forward with both proposed ballot measures or if not, which measure would take precedence over the other.
With regard to the proposed City Charter ballot measure, City Manager Stewart stated that 1) it was put aside for two years, but the charter language had been previously approved by the City Council; 2) City Attorney Berger would provide an explanation as to a minor amendment that was provided to the City Council for this meeting; and 3) the matter would be brought back for further discussion and consideration by the City Council at the subsequent study session .
For the record, 1) Council Member Sanchez suggested implementation of a scale of measurement going forward to better distinguish between property owners who are putting in their best efforts to maintain occupancy and those who have been habitually vacant; and 2) Council Member Koops noted that the City as a property owner would also be subjected to the same tax.
For the record, City Attorney Berger read the amendment to Section 7.C of the charter into the record, as follows:
“Notwithstanding any other part of this Section, the City Council must pay prevailing wage for public projects erecting, improving, painting, or repairing public buildings and projects.”
For the record, 1) City Attorney Berger stated that following some discussions with union representatives, additional recommended language clarifies that the City would adhere to the established state level prevailing wage as opposed to implementing its own maintenance related types of wages with regard to classic type of Public Works projects; and 2) the red-lined version of the amendment was submitted to be archived in the official meeting materials.
Following discussion, it was the consensus of the City Council to 1) direct staff to continue to research both potential ballot measures and bring more information back to the City Council in approximately two weeks, to include consideration of forming a City Council Ad Hoc Subcommittee and Citizen Committee, as well as input from Consultant Richard Bernard of FM3; and 2) accept the revised City Charter presented in the agenda packet.
5 Bellflower City Council Special Meeting Minutes Item No. 4-A May 3, 2022 Page 4 of 4
5 ADJOURNMENT
Without objection, Mayor Dunton adjourned the Special Meeting at 11:26 a.m .
Ray Dunton, Mayor
City of Bellflower
Attest:
Mayra Ochiqui, City Clerk
Approved: May 23, 2022
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