MINUTES
CITY OF DELANO
CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING
September 03, 2024
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 David Vivas offered the invocation.
FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Alindajao led the flag salute.
ROLL CALL
Council members present: Mayor Joe Alindajao, Mayor Pro Tem Morris, Councilmember Nunez, Councilmember Solorio-Ruiz, Councilmember Vasquez
Council members absent: None.
OFFICIALS PRESENT
City Manager Reyna, City Clerk Garcia, City Attorney Hensley, Commander Mendoza, Finance Director Rios, Acting Community Development Director Chavez, Fire Chief Duncan, Recreation Manager Batth-Chavez, Transit Manager Alapisco, IT Manager Enriquez, and City Engineer Dowling
PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS
Letter entitled “My Gratitude to the City of Delano” by Emily Valentina Duran
ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC
1. Ruby Hill – [inaudible] Shared concerns of the relocation of the senior center.
2. Charles L. – [inaudible] Shared concerns of the relocation of the senior center.
3. Laura C. – [inaudible] Shared concerns of the relocation of the senior center.
4. Fernando Bravo – “Mayor, I'm back. Yes, I just agree with this. There are people here, my seniors, so I organized these people here to come by and give the voice to you guys. We still want to know why we want to move from this new location to a smaller one. You guys are making us go backward instead of forward.
What's going on? Mayor, I spoke to you by the phone and you told me that wasn't going to happen and then you call me back that it was going to happen. So what do you guys need? A majority vote to have us keep this building? Also Councilman Nunez, you also mentioned to me that you've been by there quite a bit, you say and that it looks partially empty. That's not true. You told me to go look at the west side, so okay, maybe the new building is open for the school kids, but now they're in school so they're going to going there maybe after school after three o'clock to eight o'clock. But us we're there from 9 to 1. We do what we have to do. So also if I may get the approval from council for some transportation for field trip to the Kern County Fair, which is on the 20th of this month and I already got some signups, would that be possible for maybe next agenda? So I just want to cover what I have right now, but I'll let all my senior friends come up and voice their opinions.”
5. Javier Cruz, 2210 Via Espinosa – “Good evening. My name is Javier Cruz. So the reason of why I'm here tonight, I'd like to request from you very courteously, just as you earn a salary, I'd like to ask for you to lower that salary and use that money to help us keep the building that we are in. I'd like to say that that building belongs to us. And if you send us back to where we were, and there's a comment that one of you made and that says this. The last Friday that the okay was given that the decision to relocate was given. So by 1130 when we had all the food that you all ate there you then said that you were going to work with us.
When we voted for you, when we elected you, we did it under the impression that you had on or you had your word and you kept your word and it seems like it's not. I know that you know that I have my word and the City Manager should also lower her salary and help us keep this building. I might be being too harsh, but I feel like you all are all treating us like children. I pay my taxes with the same green bills that you do.
I’d like for the City Manager to go and look at the streets where we are living in. You're fixing everything around us, but not the streets that we are living in. We're getting the worst of it. Maybe she needs to live here in Delano so she can realize what the people really need. There's a petition for the police chief that's here today. I'll make calls to the police because there are trucks parked in the middle of the street. The streets are already in disarray. They're in really bad shape, but still there are trucks parked in the middle. I called. There's no response from them in ours. Hopefully for the next meeting, the mayor and the City Manager will have an answer for us. And if I offended you, I will not apologize. I just ask you have a seat on this side of the rail. Thank you.”
6. Gloria Herrera, 51 9th Ave. – “I'm here to ask you to have a consideration for the seniors. I've been in that place in my whole life, probably three times. That's just before the old building burned. And as you rebuild it, you move the seniors that used to go in Ellington Park to that one and you promise they're going to be their place and that place is very limited. You can see all these people here, but they feel intimidated to speak out for what they feeling. In Delano, there's the only place that I can see that seniors can go and have a little bit of good time and you can see that they like it because that's all what we have. I see the services and they're very limited, the activities are limited to be Delano and to have these seniors that spend their whole life paying taxes for Delano and have this very limited services, I think should be ashamed of that. Every council members had been run year after year after year because before the old building it was very, very limited. I understand in the past, but now there's a new building, now you're going to pass from one place to another place. You're going to move up from there to I don't know where later in two, three years more they're going to move them to somewhere else. I ask you to have a consideration and do a little bit more services for the seniors. I think they deserve that. They've been living here their whole life. I go to other cities and they have so much activities, so much programs for the seniors and over here they have to beg, give us a little bit so we can take a little field trip once a year or twice a year.”
7. Gloria Rodriguez, 2118 Oxford St. – “I want to speak on behalf of the seniors and myself. My personal experience, about 17 years ago when I first retired, I was going to the gym at Ellington. I was told if you go into the senior program, you get the gym free. So okay, I did that. So the place was very small and it was very crowded and the people weren't very friendly. It was kind of territorial. Here everybody talks to everybody. There's plenty of room to move around the tables. When we take goodies, we try to take enough for everybody and go to the various tables and share. At the Jefferson Center, it's very spacious and welcoming. There are plenty of windows and that's very important. At Ellington, there's no windows. You're locked in a small room. At Jefferson we're able to have the Zumba, we're able to have the strength building and then it provides space enough for other presenters to come in, such as there's couple over here alluded to for health services or other presentations. As far as the entrance at the Ellington Center, it's just one big door. One big door. You can't see who's coming in. Over here at the Jefferson Center, there's windows all around. When we're doing Zumba, sometimes we encounter some senior coming and they're having trouble opening the door. One of us will go and help them open the door and come in. I do have a comment, a question. I have heard from a council person that they want to rent the Jefferson Center out and move to Ellington, but that person also said that it costs the city more to rent out the facility than not renting it. So if that is the case, why do you want to rent it out? If it's going to cost you more to rent it. My final comment is, well, I also heard that you want to keep the Ellington Center open for us until eight in the evening. Why? We have things to do. A lot of us have little gardens, a lot of us have grandchildren. We don't want to stay there that long. What are you trying to do? Babysitters? That's tiny. We don't need a couch. More comfortable chairs a beautiful tables to eat on would provide for us. Just let us stay where we are at Jefferson. We are happy there.”
8. Suzanne Villaruz, 1808 Terrace Dr. – “I just recently became retired and learned to accept that I am a senior citizen myself. That's kind of hard to take sometimes, but having lived in this community my entire life, the Jefferson Center has always been a senior center. When it burned down, it didn't surprise me because I know there was a switch in the kitchen that was fuzzy and zipping and we said there's a problem with this and it didn't get fixed and two months later burned down. My concern is I may be retired, but I am still currently a registered nurse. The safety and the accessibility of the Jefferson Center far exceeds the Ellington Center. I've been in the Ellington Center. Its ventilation is horrible. The bathrooms I didn't go because I went to those bathrooms when I was a kid. They weren't nice then. They cannot be better now.
But the bathrooms at the Jefferson Center are more accessible. I am talking about the safety of our seniors and that they have worked long and hard and deserve a place that is beneficial to them, that is attracted for them. It is a beautiful building and it could be rented out in the evenings I suppose, but at the same time you guys have priced that sucker right out of the out of anyone's use. I can't rent it for a party. It's far too expensive. But for our seniors, the money you got to bill, the first senior center at Jefferson Center was earmarked for the senior center. And when the insurance covered it, it covered building a senior center. So if that money was designated for a senior center, you better darn well keep it a senior center.”
9. Lydia Duran, 753 Quincy St. – “I just wanted to share a couple of comments regarding my experiences here in our city. I'll start with a little bit of a story. 16 years ago and one week ago, I actually moved from the city of Chicago to Delano. Since then in that time, I've become a community member here in Delano, a teacher, a wife and a mom. The city of Delano has also had a number of milestones since then. For example, we now have a Walmart, an In-N-Out and a major hotel. We have designated bike lanes and a brand new absolutely gorgeous pool with a lot of great other options coming every year to align with my daughter Emily's theme of gratitude. I wanted to thank the city for its efforts each and every year that I've been here to develop the city. I think that Delano is a really desirable place to live for families. It has a lot of amenities and there's so many more to come. Being a teacher, both at the elementary school district years ago and also now the high school district, I think we have two really great school districts that compete amongst the top schools in our area. I think we have a number of resources in town that truly allow our kids to thrive. My appreciation goes out to the city council before me, but also those who held the seats in the past for their continued desire to make Delano a really great place to live. My family and I are really happy here. If only we could just do something about the heat. Before I leave, I'd like to ask, since I'm up here for the city to consider one thing, if it's even in your purview, it might not be, but I do remember before the pandemic, the elementary schools tracks and playgrounds were open in the early afternoons and evenings for families to go and enjoy and safely go for walks or runs. But seeing as how I live right across the street from Del Vista, they've been locked for years now. And as someone who really likes to take advantage of physical activity as much as possible with my family, I'm always looking for a safer option because I've had a couple of dangerous encounters just walking or running in town sometimes. So if that's a possibility you guys could look into, I'd appreciate it. After sitting for a bit and listening to some of the requests of our fellow senior citizens as a teacher, I'm always looking for opportunities for our youth and my own kids to find opportunities to develop. If there is an opportunity for volunteering or being able to engage our youth with our seniors, that'd be something I'd love to see so that we can have more of a sense of community amongst the different age groups.”
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 $5,577,110.81
3) Minutes of Regular Council Meeting of August 19, 2024 4) Minutes of Regular Pension Meeting of May 14, 2024
5) Minutes of Regular Council Meeting of July 10, 2024
6) Approve and Authorize the Amendment to the Electric Vehicle Ready Agreement with Kern COG and authorize City Manager to execute necessary documents
7) Approval of the co-sponsorship in the amount of $450 for the Kern County Public Works Department to host a public informational meeting on November 6
8) Acceptance of a $5,000.00 donation from Castle Rock Vineyards to be deposited into the Juvenile Diversion account for the use of Community Events
9) Resolution adopting the revised City of Delano Investment Policy 10) Award of the “2024 High Street Storm Drain Improvement Project” to JM Pipeline Construction Inc. in the amount of $249,450.00, and authorization for the City Manager or her designee to sign any documents needed to carry this project to completion.
11) Acceptance of the Public Improvement Work for Tract No. 7379, Phase 3, Located on County Line Road between Hiett Avenue and Melcher Road.
12) Award of the “2024 Glenwood Street Sewer Trunk Main Project” to JM Pipeline Construction Inc. in the amount of $742,780.00.00, and authorization for the City Manager or her designee to sign any documents needed to carry this project to completion.
13) Approval of Additional Appropriation for Contract Change Order #2 for the “2024 CDBG CV Broadband Accessibility Project” by Techexpress from Bakersfield, CA, in the amount of $27,913.57 and authorization for the City Manager, or her designee, to sign said change order and any other documents needed to complete the project.
14) Second Reading of Ordinance Setting the Rates and Charges for Solid Waste, Recycling, and Organics Collection Services and Determining the Project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act 15) Award of the “2024 Fire Station 34 & 37 Emergency Generator Project” to Nickell Electrical Construction in the amount of $48,170.00, and authorization for the City Manager or her designee to sign any documents needed to carry this project to completion
16) Approval of Request from Delano Union School District for City to Sponsor Parade Permit for the Annual Kiddie Parade on October 4, 2024, in the amount of $1,350 17) Revising Ordinance 2.52.080 section G: Increasing pension committee meeting stipend 18) Approval of the co-sponsorship for Kern County Elections poll worker trainings in the total amount of $1,000 for the usage of the Civic Center on October 22 and October 31, 2024.
Motion was made by: Morris to approve items 1-18 on consent items; 2nd by: Solorio-Ruiz
Vote: 5-0
Ayes: Alindajao / Morris / Nunez / Solorio – Ruiz / Vasquez Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS
None.
REGULAR AGENDA
None.
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
Acting Community Development Director Chavez provides a report on a meeting he had with the Finance Department, Human Resources Department and Chamber of Commerce regarding permits and vendors at community events.
COUNCIL STATEMENTS AND REPORTS
Council member Vasquez – “Yes, I have a lot to say. I got phone calls last Friday and text messages saying that the Mayor and other council people were there talking about that I made the sole decision for the seniors to get moved. I called Liz and I talked to Liz about it and I asked if it could be put on the agenda because let me tell you, I can't even get anything on the agenda. That's why I called Liz. I don't have that kind of power and I don't appreciate the Mayor going and lobbying seniors. He never goes there to help with your fundraising or drop off stuff. All of a sudden now he wants to do this and I think it's very inappropriate and very divisive. So had I known that he was going to do this, he could have asked for this to be put on the agenda. As soon as I heard about it, that's the first thing that I did was asked to put it on the agenda so that we can have an open conversation because I made no decision. I did not just make this happen and I'm sorry that you were lied to because that's not appropriate. It never should have happened. It should have been placed on the agenda. We should have had a conversation as a community, not finger pointing and lying to people. So I'm going to apologize to you, even though I'm not the one lying. It still wasn't appropriate and it's not okay. I have asked for it to be put on the agenda and I thought there was going to be a department report today about it to talk about how decision making was made. I've always stood by your side. I've always supported you and I donate every time that I can. So I'm just really disappointed and it's unfortunate that that had to take place. The other thing is can we, I don't know the technicalities, but in regards to transportation for them to go to their event on I think the 20th, could we look into that to provide transportation or what that would look like or put it on the agenda to have a conversation?” Council member Solorio-Ruiz – “I didn't get an opportunity to say thank you Emily, and to your parents as well for being here and expressing your thoughts on what we offer here in our city. I'm very glad to hear all the good stuff that we're doing because a lot of good stuff is happening in our city. We always talk about youth programs and investing in our young people. And I do believe we're doing it, of course, with thanks to our city staff. Can we be better? Absolutely. Nothing's perfect, right? We can always evolve and grow in our programs and in ourselves and what we offer in our city. So thank you. It was very brave of you to come up here. Let me tell you, a lot of adults can't do what you did. Okay? So really appreciate you kiddo. Nueva Vista is a great school. I also want to of course acknowledge Mr. Hill, former Council Member and Mayor of Delano. Thank you for being here. It's always great to have former council members and mayors crash meetings. I just appreciate you being here. And of course, without getting too much into it, of all the public comments today, because unfortunately we can't also get into it in depth, that would perhaps be at the following meeting. I just want to make sure to vocalize that we're going to walk in this with good intentions. I personally, I vouch that I have respect and I value each and every one of you in our community and to make sure that you are in our city with respect and dignity to the lives you've had and to make sure that we offer the best services can. Because ultimately what it's about is what are we offering to our residents of Delano? And I think that's the conversation worth having. So I'm excited to talk about it potentially next council meeting. Other than that, thank you to City staff, City Manager, all of you for the work you do. Congratulations on all the good work that we're doing in the city.”
Councilmember Nunez – No comments.
Mayor Pro-Tem Morris – “I want to thank all my senior friends. It's good to see all of you. Yeah, great familiar faces and we've partied, we've dance together. I know what a good time it is to have those opportunities to get together to socialize. I understand where Councilman Vasquez is coming from because for some reason or right there, I know that somewhere along the line this got kind of put on her shoulders and it isn't like that. I'm a great believer in fairness. In fairness, we discussed the move, but it was the consensus of the entire board. I'm sure it's going to come up for discussion again. We’re grateful that you've come and you've voiced your opinion and I'm sure there's going to be some other discussion regarding that center. I did have the opportunity to go to the center at Ellington. They did, to take a look at it. To be honest with you, it is very nice. They have totally renovated the place where they have new floors, new ceilings, new painting, new kitchen with brand new cabinets and everything. I understand some of you were saying you aren't quite sure why it was being moved, and obviously that's part of the discussion I'm sure that we're going to have again because I know how you guys love it there. I think we all know, and you voiced that to us, how well you all like it there. Change is hard. It's not easy for our seniors to make new moves and new changes. In fairness, I think we thought all of us had a different view or different opinion of what was actually going to take place. We were thinking 50 50 part over here, part over there.
City Attorney informs Council to place the Senior Center item on the next agenda, so it can be up for discussion.
Vice Mayor changes topic.
The only other thing I wanted to just kind of mention is that Harvest Holidays, of course is getting on this road now and we are coming into the festivities. All of Harvest holidays, and those of you that, and I know all of you seniors know because you were around when Harvest holidays was pretty big here in Delano. It's a 77-year-old tradition in our community where we celebrate the harvest and we have worked hard to keep this traditional alive in our community. We hope that all of you come out and help celebrate the harvest. They're starting a kickoff this Saturday with the Tiny Tots and that will be at Pioneer. Two weeks from this Saturday will be the king and queen, the scholarship program show. That's a pretty big event in our community also. Soon after that, on October 3rd, there's going to be a Grand Marshall's barbecue at the American Legion. So it's not at the park, it's the American Legion.
Then there'll be a kitty parade, which is sponsored by the elementary school district. Some of you probably were in the kitty parade being younger. I remember being in the kitty parade when I was a young girl. Then on Saturday there'll be a grand parade. So we would like all of you to come out and be part of the festivities and have a great time and support the community and the activities that we try to keep alive in our community. Had to report in Community Alliance today. We did say that the city is thriving and we've seen a lot of building is developing in our community, and I think we're all quite happy with that. Also all of you, some of you have experienced the resurfacing, which we all kind of dread when that happens, when we have to go down those roads. But how wonderful it is that we're able to do that to survive through that treasury of going through those roads. Then at the end, we had beautiful roads and smooth and they changed pipes, I guess too, right? They changed the pipes that were so old and rotted out. We're grateful for staff and the city to replace those and make our community beautiful.
So thank you all of you for coming out and again, being here to voice your opinion.” Mayor Alindajao – “There's a couple of things I wanted to report. A few weeks ago I attended the California Farm Workers Foundation Awards and Scholarship Banquet where we awarded many scholarships and awards to college students of Latino descent and of family members that work in do farm work labor in our community, not just in Delano, but throughout the Valley. I also was able and had the honor of attending an event with Liedres Campesina, which is a group dedicated to the advancement of farm worker, women and youth. We got to go out to a field and meet some of the workers and have raffle prizes and it was a lot of fun. I want to thank Liederes Campinas for the work they do in educating and empowering farm worker women and youth. So I appreciate our partnership with them. To Mr. Bravo's point, as far as the Kern County Fair, it's already set up. Mr. Bravo, the way the seniors can know as well, that actually begins on September 20th. They will get picked up the Jefferson Center. Okay, so beginning of September 20th, you'll have transportation to the Kern County Fair. Okay. Let's see. Mrs. Duran brought up an issue regarding school grounds, and I think that is an issue that's within the jurisdiction of the school district. There was a time back when even the tennis courts I remember were available to the public for a long time and they're now closed to the public. So it's probably going to take a little bit of conversation with the school districts to see what that can be done. That's not in our league, so to speak. I did want to tell the public about the Veterans Day parade, which is coming up on November 2nd. It's not that far away. We also have a Delano Hometown Heroes Parade Committee, a barbecue this Friday, September 6th as a fundraiser. I'm going to let out a little secret. This is not public yet, but don't tell anyone. Okay? But this year's Grand Marshall is Mr. Benny Alcala posthumously. So we're going to have the honor of honoring Benny Alcala at this year's Veteran's Day parade, so I appreciate that. I want to address a couple of issues that council member Vasquez brought up. She said that I said certain things, which is not true. You can ask the people that were there, it's just blatantly false. You can ask the council member Nunez, who was there. You can ask the Delano's who were there and they'll tell you, I never said that. The reason why I showed up, just because I've never showed up to something, doesn't preclude me from showing up to special events like this. I went there because I saw my dear friends Louis and Sally Dominguez, who are in the audience today. I saw them at a birthday party a few weeks ago, and they were kind enough to invite me to the potluck. That's why I went. I've known Louis and Sally for more than 30 years. They knew me when I was a teenager, and that's why I showed up to the potluck. So thank you for the invitation. What I did say is that there seems to be a majority of the council that wants to move the seniors to the Ellington Center. I don't want to discuss that, but that's what I did say, which is true. And I didn't say who the majority was. I just said a majority. We're going to discuss that because I'm going to request, I don't know if anybody has already, but if anybody has requested that item to be on the agenda, let's do that officially so we can discuss and give our staff direction in terms of where we want the seniors to be on a more permanent basis.” Motion was made by: Solorio-Ruiz to go into closed session at 6:21 PM; 2nd by: Nunez
Vote: 5-0
Ayes: Alindajao / Nunez / Morris / Solorio-Ruiz / Vasquez Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
CLOSED SESSION
19) Threat of Litigation - 1 matter pursuant to Cal. Gov. Code, § 54956.9, subd. (e) Motion was made by: Solorio-Ruiz to return to general session at 6:42 PM; 2nd by: Nunez
Vote: 5-0
Ayes: Alindajao / Nunez / Morris / Solorio-Ruiz / Vasquez Nays: None
Absent: None
Abstentions: None
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Solorio-Ruiz seconded by Nunez and unanimously carried 5-0 to adjourn the meeting at 6:42 PM _____________________________________________
Nancy Garcia, City Clerk