MINUTES
CITY OF DELANO
CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING
October 16, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Alindajao called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1015 – 11th Avenue.
INVOCATION
Pastor Vivas offered the invocation.
FLAG SALUTE
Interim Chief Nicholson led flag salute.
ROLL CALL
Council members present: Mayor Joe Alindajao, Mayor Pro Tem Salvador Solorio-Ruiz, Mario Nunez, Jr. Liz Morris, Veronica Vasquez
Council members absent: None.
OFFICIALS PRESENT
City Manager Reyna, City Clerk Garcia, Interim City Attorney Vasquez, Finance Director Lara Rios, City Engineer Dowling (via Zoom), Interim Chief Nicholson, Human Resources Director Zamudio, Interim Community Development Director Monsibais, Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez
PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS
1. Mayor Alindajao presented Frank Marquez with a retirement plaque
2. Mayor Alindajao recognized Sam Mohan and Max Becerra for their creation of Dover Pointe Block Annual Party
3. Mayor Alindajao presented the proclamation for America Filipino History Month to Max Becerra
ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC
1) Claribel Gutierrez – “On behalf of the Assembly woman Baines, I just want to congratulate all the amazing people that you just mentioned prior. I want to say congratulations to Frank Marquez for his commitment to our city of Delano and our district 35th with everything that he has done up and down the city and making it better than how he found it. Also, I want to thank Max and Sam for the continuous support to our district cities and everything you do. From the full donation of Turkey food to the homeless population and all the residents in our community. So thank you for that. And also I wanted to thank the city of Delano and the mayor for leading the path of a new way at the city council. I just want to say congratulations. You take time to congratulate those that need to be congratulated and for the amazing job that you guys do as a whole. And nevertheless, also, I want to congratulate Veronica Vasquez on presenting that proclamation she's going to give on your behalf this Saturday. It is well needed to recognize those that gave the way for all of us to enjoy our city as a whole today. Thank you.” 2) Josue Chavez, 2042 Girard St. (via Zoom) –“I think one issue that is plaguing Delano currently is traffic. I've noticed around the areas of Cecil or County Lane, I've noticed around three to four, the city experiences a lot of congestion, and I think an efficient solution to that would be to implement more public transportation, transportation systems. I think this could include things like buses. And I'm currently studying at SDSU and a lot of the transportation here is well connected and affordable. So with that said, I would love to see less traffic. Happy Delano. Thank you.” Public comments closed.
CONSENT AGENDA
1) Authorization to waive the reading of any ordinance in its entirety and consenting to the reading of such ordinances by title only.
2) Warrant Register in the amount of $3,404,370.36
3) Minutes of the Special Council meeting of September 13, 2023 4) Adopt a resolution approving the Management Employee Group (MEG) Salary Schedule effective October 16, 2023
5) Adopt resolution approving the new class specification for Information Technology Manager 6) Adopt resolution approving the revised class specification for Maintenance Worker I 7) Retire Delano Police K-9 Axel and authorize the sale of the K-9 to his current handler for $50.00 under the terms and conditions contained within the purchase agreement 8) Approval of continued support to the Delano Historical Society for fiscal year 2023/2024 in the amount of $40,000
9) Approval of the co-sponsorship for Kern County Elections poll worker trainings in the total amount of $1,400 for the usage of the Civic Center on February 20 and February 29, 2024 10) Request to incorporate parade route decorating for the inaugural Veteran’s Day Parade on November 4, 2023, and every year thereafter
Motion was made by: Solorio-Ruiz to approve items 1-7, 9-10 on consent items; 2nd by: Vasquez
Vote: 5-0
Ayes: Alindajao /Solorio-Ruiz /Morris/Nunez /Vasquez
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
Item No. 8 pulled by Josue Chavez
Josue Chavez: “Okay, so I think it's important to mention that Delano Historical Society has a big responsibility in collecting and preserving the stories that make the essence of our town's history special. I think their conservation work efforts provide invaluable insight into how our past, allowing us to understand our roots and appreciation and how far we have come. I'm in support of these funds, but my question would be where will those funds go into and what impact would we see from these funds?.”
Colton Kinsey: “I'm the president at the Delano Heritage Park. I do have a list if council members would like to see. I have one. And on that list of the items and the reason why we're asking for more this year than before our budget, considering how much everything's gone up, but supplies and demand, we have quite a bit of replacing, trying to get the park up to date for the ADA for our handicap receptacle. I'm also working on trying to get grants from the state so that way we can also have concrete all the way through our park and through our buildings and we'll have more ramps. And also working on getting a bathrooms outside of our office. A lot of the extra funding that we're asking for is just going towards the upkeep. I'm not sure if you guys realize that with everything going up in inflation cost, the wood cost for it alone to do so much that we do at the part has gone up significantly. And so we just need a little extra more to actually start working on that side of it. But also too, I'd like to bring up, I'm working with the family of Delano. The Delano family has contacted me throughout the last few months and working on building a women's library, which this women's library, cultural library would help bring in funds for the part which we would now subsidize what we get from the city and help us in what we need. I'm hoping that I can get with council members and some of the city members and work on this project and hopefully with the county. I know that they haven't been wanting to upkeep the Memorial Park. They've been wanting to push that off on the city.
And I'm hoping that if we can work with the county and city, that we be able to take over that part of Memorial Park and put this cultural library, women's cultural library, and have a safe haven for the children of the community and a place where they can read books and learn the educational part of our community and the history of our country. And so with that, I turn it back to the city council.” Councilmember Morris: “Also, Colton, the money also for this woman's library is actually a legacy from the Mr. Delano who actually the city is named after. Is that Correct?” Colton Kinsey: “Yeah. So the ancestors, Delano Columbus Delano is the correct term. It got changed in the twenties and thirties when they had the high pitched mikes. So Delano became the term we know it as, but as you were saying. Yes. So that's going to help. That family is going to help. They're the heirs. So Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who's president of the United States at one time, that's his cousin, Columbus Delano, is that what we know? It was the interior Secretary interior of our country. And it was what brought those tracks here and joined Delano as it is. So they are going to work with us and the family to, they have a long history of who they're related to in this country, dating back to the Mayflower, dating back to the religious wars in Spain. So to bring that heritage and that history of rich history that we have in this community that falls back way during the time of the Kings and the Roman times. So I think it's very valuable that we keep the park open and we keep the funding going to the park until we can work on making this possible for the people of Delano.”
Motion was made by: Solorio-Ruiz to approved items 8 on consent items; 2nd by: Vasquez
Vote: 5-0
Ayes: Alindajao /Solorio-Ruiz /Morris/Nunez /Vasquez
Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS
No items.
REGULAR AGENDA
No items.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
No departmental reports.
COUNCIL STATEMENTS AND REPORTS
Councilmember Vasquez: “The mayor already talked about the event that's going to be happening at the 40 acres, but he left out a key component. They're going to have free Filipino food, so I highly encourage everyone to go.
They're not having any food vendors for that reason because they're going to be giving out free Filipino food. And then there'll also be a car show. So I hope everybody can make it. And I know Rob Bono's mom, Cynthia is going to be there also. So yeah, there's two events, Stockton and here. So of those that can't make it to Stockton, please go to the 40 acres. Thank you.”
Councilmember Nunez: “Yes. I'd like to thank city manager Maribel and council member Vasquez for getting out there and getting with Cap K and getting us together. This water bill assistance event that's going to be happening on October 24th here in the city of Delano at the Civic Center between 3:00 and 7:00 PM So if you have any issues with your water bills or you can't afford those right now, there's a lot of money sitting out there. And I'm pretty sure the city can help you along with Cap K again on the 24th of October from three to seven at the Civic Center. And the only other thing is if you like cheerleading and cheer competitions, Al Valley Youth Football League is having a cheer competition this Saturday at Cesar Chavez High School. We have about 2,000 cheerleaders coming to the city of Delano in a chair competition to be running from eight o'clock in the morning till about eight o'clock at night.
Cesar Chavez High School in the gym.”
Councilmember Morris: “Yes. Just like to mention that Kiwanis is currently having their pumpkin patch for the next two weeks, and if you've gone by there, you'll see all these pumpkins and all the work and crafts and there's so much to do. We actually sign up schools to come and we are asking for any volunteers that could come out and help us. We appreciate anyone's help to go out there and either read to kids or do the games or work the fun patch or do the craft projects. So there's a lot going on for kids out there. And just to see the smile on those kids' faces when they leave there with the pumpkin in their hand, they are so happy. And so it's worth it to see the smiles on those kids' faces as they leave. I wanted to also just mention since I've been gone the last meeting, we did King and Queen show on the 23rd, and then I had to leave the next day and I left the country for two weeks, but I didn't get an opportunity to thank all of you, to thank all of you for all that you do for this traditional holiday that we have in our community.
And thank you for participating. Thank you for helping us out. We couldn't do it without in the city's help. So thank you again for all of that. I wasn't here, in fact, I was flying back on the day of the actual festivity, but I was trying to keep up with everybody by text, so I understand that it went well and it was well received. We had a new venue this time. It was at Cecil Avenue Park rather than at Memorial Park. So my understanding is that it went well. So thank you again, all of you for supporting and keeping that tradition alive in our community. Thank you. And all those that helped and contributed to that event. All our sponsors we're so grateful. We have such a giving community and I'm so proud to be part of this community. So thank you again.” Mayor Pro-Tem Solorio Ruiz: “You're thanking us. We should be thanking you. What are you talking about? No, those events were just fantastic to bring the community together. The Kiddie parade was great. The parade on Saturday was also amazing. And as we know, Delano community always turns out, they always turn out and it's a beautiful thing to see all of us out there. The barbecue was fantastic. The venue change I think was totally okay as well. And the food was amazing. So thank you for all that you do. And I know your team is amazing. The Harvest team, I did have on my list in terms of stuff to remind community about. I did have the Dover Point block party on here, but that was already covered. But just one last reminder I guess to folks. And then I also wanted to, I think I saw Officer Murguia here, but I wanted to remind folks about the trunk or treat happening on October 26th from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM It's going to be on Main Street, 10th and 12th, and so that's going to be next Thursday. And then I also wanted to remind folks about today we just went live and shout out to Noemi, the career and resource fair applications are open in terms of if organizations or even businesses who want to table for our career and resource fair happening on November 8th, applications are open. You can find the post on social media or you can also contact me and I can send you the application and we can go from there. And then I also wanted to finally give a congratulations to our city manager. I know she wasn't here previously, and of course you can possibly explain it a lot better than we can in terms of where you were at. But the little that I know is she received an award for her work that she does as a city manager. And I think that we are lucky right now to have a city manager like her to lead this city into the path that we know we're going in terms of growth and development. And so I think we're lucky to have you, and I just wanted to give you, it's very little, but to just give you that. Congratulations on behalf of. I know all of us will give it to you. On behalf of all of us in the community, congratulations.” Mayor Alindajao: “This weekend. I attended a really, really neat event. I've gotten to know a little bit better. The California Farm Worker Foundation, who happens to be our neighbors as well. They're across the street here on, I think it's Kensington. But anyway, they've had a presence here in our city for some time and do a lot of great work.
It was a great event. I want to remind the public also of our second annual Veterans Day parade. I'm really excited about that. I hope that you can come out and just show your support and honor for our veterans and first responders in our city this year. We are having a veterans breakfast at El Rey from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM and it's free for all veterans. If you come with a veteran, I think the breakfast is only going to be like $6.99. So if you have time, please come out before the parade. It's going to be a great event. Our Grand Marshall, who we're going to put out a press releases this year is Roger Ano, who was a Vietnam vet, a scout leader actually during the Vietnam War. So we're proud. Not only is he Filipino, but he's from Delano and we're proud to have him as our Grand Marshall this year.
So be looking out for that press release because his resume is pretty impressive. The parade is on Saturday, November 4th starts at 10:00 AM the veteran's breakfast starts at 7:00 AM seven to 9:00 AM at El Rey restaurant.
We're also super proud of our new veteran banners. You'll see lining Main Street and Jefferson and maybe even beyond that. As the program grows, you'll see a lot of your friends and family on some really nice banners on the parade route. So we're really excited to see those go up. Well, the Banner program has closed already, but we're going to reopen the banner program in the off season. So probably sometime between January and March we'll reopen the program. It's sometimes very difficult, especially for our older veterans to gather the necessary paperwork because you can't just show up and say, Hey, I'm a veteran, I want a banner. You have to have certain military paperwork, high resolution photograph and things like that. So it takes a little bit of work that sometimes isn't readily available. But we're going to reopen the program. I think there's 26 banners that are going up this year, and we'll reopen up the program next year and we'll have even more banners for next year's grade. So I'm excited about that. I thank you to the Harvest Holiday members. I know Liz is on that and Clarabell. Yeah, that was a great parade. And it was pretty well attended. It was a lot of people. I also do not want to thank my colleagues for leaving me on the float by myself. I kept telling everybody I threw 'em off on sixth Avenue so I can get all the attention. But yeah, I was just solo. But no, it was a really good, the Grand Marshall Manual from Emmanuel's Furniture, I think that's such an appropriate pick for Grand Marshall. He does so much for the community. It was a great event at the Cecil Park. I mean, it just turned out really well, and it was really well attended. There's so many people there, so I hope to see the same people for the Veterans Day parade as well. So let's see. Other than that, I think the Vice Mayor mentioned trunk or treat. I hope you guys all come out there and free Filipino food Saturday. Thank you, Mr.
Morrison. I was also informed of, now that we're on Filipino History month, I don't know if any of you know, but there's actually a documentary by a filmmaker called the Delano Manos. It will be presented in Delano next week with the filmmakers, Marissa Aroy, and have a Q and A afterwards. So it's really neat. And it's going to happen at Robert F. Kennedy High School on Wednesday, October 25th, in the auditorium at 5:00 PM Thank you Mr.
Morrison for that.”
CLOSED SESSION
No items.
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Solorio-Ruiz seconded by Nunez and unanimously carried 5-0 to adjourn the meeting at 6:22p.m. _____________________________________________
Nancy Garcia, City Clerk