MINUTES
CITY OF DELANO
CITY COUNCIL – REGULAR MEETING
May 4, 2026
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez called the meeting to order at 5:17 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1015 – 11th Avenue.
INVOCATION
Fr. Emmanuel Bernal offered the invocation.
FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez led the flag salute.
ROLL CALL
Council members present: Mario Nunez, Liz Morris, Joe Alindajao (Arrived at 5:30pm), Bryan Osorio Council members absent: Salvador Solorio-Ruiz
OFFICIALS PRESENT
City Manager Reyna, City Clerk Chavez, Assistant City Attorney King, Finance Director Lara Rios, Police Chief Nicholson, Interim Community Development Director Dowling (via teleconference), Human Resources Director Zamudio, Public Works Director Nunez, City Engineer Rodriguez, Transit Manager Alapisco and Commander Camacho
PRESENTATIONS AND AWARDS
• Kern Council of Governments (KernCOG) presentation on the 4-year update to the long-range Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) (Item was continued to May 18, 2026) • Mayor Pro Tem Nunez presented a Proclamation of Community Action Month (CAPK) to Pritika Ram, Chief Business Development Officer.
ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC
1. Roberto Ibarra – “So in New York, the subway, a wallet was placed on the subway, and if I see a wallet, I take it. It's there. The person happened to take it home and then it was followed by police, snatched. And I believe they stopped because they were sued because there was no need to fabricate delinquents. So why is it was just allowed? I'm asking. The poor fellow, I mean, he was a farm worker. He's a farm worker. What happened? He ended up paying maybe for his impound vehicle and God forbid, maybe fee, court and all that stuff when it could be avoided. Now we fabricated delinquents. That's one thing. The other thing is that now that the overtime pay for the farm workers, I feel like they're being punished. Whatever the amount of days that it takes for, let's say, to work on the field, if it takes five days, now they want to have it done in three days or two days, the maximum. People pay rent, taxes, fees, education, insurance, and all of the above and all this stuff because I believe they're being punished and nobody ... Well, maybe we need another Cesar Chavez, but Cesar Chavez is now ... Let's say he's up for being...”
2. Gloria Herrera – “Gloria Herrera, and I'm here today to submit some signatures and opposition to centralized mailbox installation on Asti Street and then between 8th and 9th Avenue. It's affecting me now because I have to go every other day to pick up my mail at the post office. And this is happening over an incident that happened on Asti Street. I don't see why I should be penalized over someone that decided to confront the mailman. To me, he or that house should be punished where they are not get their mail services, but not the whole street. It's been, I think it's going a month or three weeks where we not receiving our mail at home. I find out about not receiving my mail for two weeks and days, and I had a health problem in my family. I was really busy that day, but anyway, I knew that I needed to go pick up my mail. I mean, that I hadn't received mail, so I was wondering. So, I went to ask at the post office, and that's what they tell me, that they were not longer going to deliver mail to that area between 8:00 and 9:00 because of that. So, I decided to go pick up some signatures from those neighbors, and I have them right here in opposition of that. And there's a letter explaining why we all opposed to have…” Mayor Pro Tem Nunez – “Ms. Herrera, have you reached out to the Delano Postmaster?” Gloria Herrera – “I went and asked them, but what they told me is that they were already in process of asking the city for a location where to put the community mailbox. So that told me that maybe it's already decided that they're going to put a community mailbox, but that area or that section of Delano is been probably a hundred years old where all the mailboxes are at home because it's an old neighborhood. I understand the new neighborhoods, all new developments, they do have those community mailboxes. But that area, it's been there forever. So, they only want to do eighth and ninth because it's already stopped because I'm across the street from eight, but they're not delivering my mail. Yeah. So, I decided to come and let you know that we are opposing all the signatures of these people. They're opposing to have their mail change.”
3. Wendy Salcedo – “Hello, everybody. My name is Wendy Salcedo. I've been a resident for Delano over 40 years, and this lady, I'm actually going to also oppose that this mailbox is going to be ...
They want to implement this mailbox outside of our street. I just moved into Asti Street. It'll be a year in July, and the mail not being delivered into my home has been affected because my medication comes through the mail. And so, my medication has been delayed. We weren't given any notification from the post office that our mail was going to be not delivered anymore. I believe April 3rd was the last day we received mail in our mailboxes, and therefore my medication was delayed until we were notified by one of our neighbors. So, it has been affecting us. I don't agree that whatever mistake happened with the neighbor, it's affecting now the rest of us. So far, our street has been very calm. A lot of families live there, older people live there, and now I feel that it's affecting now the ambiance and now my health because I'm getting my medication delivered late. So, I just wanted you guys to hear our concern and what's currently going on around Asti and 8th Street. Thank you.”
4. Gallo Santido – “Hello, good afternoon. My name is Gallo Salcedo, and I also live in Asti Street.
Wendy is my wife, and the thing that also feels ... How they just went about things, they didn't notify us, they didn't give us no notifications. They just went and stood the ground and does our opinion not matter or do we just do things like that now? I just forgot about the public opinion.
And another issue that I wanted to bring up is that it's also affecting our street. And I think it might have something to do with our mail not being delivered. It's that they have, I would call it a rehab house at 818 Asti Street, and the police are always being called to that address and they're always a lot of shouting, a lot of screaming, a lot of smoking. So, it's becoming a more and more disturbance for our street. And I know I was talking to one of my neighbors, his name is Rosario.
He's also present here that he lives right next to that house and he always gets all that smoke and all that smell of marijuana going into his house. And it's just a big disturbance. And then some patients might be mentally ill and in the middle of the night, they'll be shouting, going out on the street, and they'll be taking off their clothes. They'll be doing all kinds of incidents. And again, we feel that our safety is a risk because there've been other incidents with them where they might attack us or we feel unsafe. So, we really want to be able to see how we can manage and get rid of that house if they can move it somewhere else because it's very unsafe for our neighborhood, for our street in particular.”
5. Pastor David Vivas – “Good evening, Council Members, Pastor David Vivas here in Delano.
First and foremost, I'd like to say I want to thank our Delano Chief of Police, Chief Jerry Nicholson for representing Delano at the Victims of Crime Vigil that was put on by our current ground district attorney, Cynthia Zimmer, on Thursday, April the 23rd, 2026. And I appreciate his representation and being there. I'm not sure if there was anybody else from Delano who was there. And if you were, I did not see you because there was several hundred people that were there who are seeking justice for their loved ones such as myself and finding those who have perpetrated these crimes against them. And so, we're seeking justice. So, I want to thank Chief Nicholson. He did a good job, City Manager representing the community of Delano. We're very proud of him, and it was good to see many other law enforcement officials present. Also, I'd like to invite our city council and city leadership and those who may be listening on the Zoom at this evening's meeting at the time that this meeting is going forth. This coming Thursday, May the 7th at 5:30 PM is going to be our city's annual observance of the National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer has been codified into law under the United States Code Title 36, Section 119, in which the president shall issue each year a proclamation designating as a first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation and churches, in groups, and as individuals. And this observance has been going on since ... We're going all the way back to 1789 when President George Washington made a proclamation where he spoke about a proclamation of Thanksgiving, not the Thanksgiving that we observe in November, but a thanksgiving of prayer in which we seek God's guidance for its new leaders in this nation. And then later on in 1952, President Harry Truman also put into law the National Day of Prayer in which they would designate a day in the year, not necessarily a Sunday, but a day in the year in which people of America, those who wish, those who desire. This is not something that is imposed or forced upon, but those who desire, they encourage to pray for its leaders and the direction in which this nation ought to go. And then in 1988, President Ronald Reagan designated the first Thursday in May to be observed as the National Day of Prayer. So, I invite our council members and leaders. An email went forth to you in your email boxes inviting you. And so, I hope you are able to make it. Hopefully you can make this into your schedule. We have a great dinner, so you'll not leave there hungry. Thank you so very much.”
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 $3,128,345.90
3) Minutes of regular Council meeting of April 20, 2026 4) Minutes of regular Community Law Enforcement Liaison Board meeting of January 15, 2026
5) Cancellation of regular City Council meeting scheduled for July 6, 2026 6) Resolution calling and giving notice of the holding of a general municipal election to be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2026, for the election of certain officers (Resolution No. 2026-21)
7) Resolution requesting the Kern County Board of Supervisors to consolidate a General Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026 with the Statewide General Election (Resolution No. 2026-22)
8) Second Reading and Adoption of an Ordinance of the City of Delano, California, adding Chapter 14.31 (Expedited and Streamlined Permitting Process for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations) to the Delano Municipal Code, and Finding the same to be exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (Ordinance No. 2026- 1374)
9) Second and final reading of an Ordinance to authorize the City Manager to Grant Certain Easements (Ordinance No. 2026-1375)
10) Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Delano approving the projects of purchasing two (2) Gas Dial A Ride Van Section 5311 federal funds in the amount of $191, 968 in which $169,948 is from section 5311 federal funds and $22,020 is from LTF and authorize City Manager to execute any actions necessary for obtaining financial assistance (Resolution No. 2026-23)
11) Resolution of the City Council of The City of Delano authorizing designated positions to execute any actions necessary for submitting a competitive grant to the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) amount of $8,000,000 (Resolution No. 2026-24) 12) Resolution Approving Submission of HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME) Program Income Application (Resolution No. 2026-25)
Motion was made by: Morris to approved items 1-12 on consent items; 2nd by: Osorio
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Nunez/Alindajao/Morris/Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Solorio-Ruiz
Abstentions: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS
13) Approval of the City’s 2026-2030 Consolidated Plan and 2026-2027 Annual Action Plan (Resolution No. 2026-26)
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez declares public hearing open.
City Manager Reyna provides the staff report.
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez opens public comment.
No public comments.
Council Member Osorio – “Just on my end, in full support of the way that this is laid out in terms of supporting the domestic violence shelter operations, the waterline replacement project, continuing to pay the new gymnasium on 11th Avenue and for the planning and administration.” Mayor Pro Tem Nunez closes public comment.
Motion for approval was made by: Osorio;
2nd by: Morris
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Nunez/Alindajao/Morris/ Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Solorio-Ruiz
Abstentions: None
REGULAR AGENDA
14) Approval of new appropriation in the amount of $35,000.00 for the “250th 4th of July Fireworks Show”; request direction for the coordination of the firework show; and authorize the City Manager to sign any documents needed to complete this project Staff report provided by Interim Community Development Director Dowling.
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez opened public comment.
Steve Kinsey – “Okay. So as you know, over the last year since COVID, the cost of the show has increased and it became very difficult for the club, one club organization to try to go out and raise all those funds. And we would come to the city and we would ask for help in that regard into paying for the show. And last year the show was $32,500, whereas the city then only contributed a thousand dollars toward that show because of the way that the changes were in the donation process. So that left the club with $31,500 plus the expenses of the ... When we did the family fun day, that added another couple thousand dollars to the fees that Kiwanis had to come up with to put on the events for the community. So, we were coming to you as something that City Manager and I have talked with for the last couple of years or so about a better way to do this. And as you know, this is the one big event that the city gets a great participation in from its citizens. 30 to 35,000 people plus all the communities around us come to watch that show. And with that, it brings money to the city, all the restaurants and the stores and other things.
And if you break down the cost of this, the cost of the show is about 70 cents a person if you estimate about 50,000 residents divided by that 35,000 number. I was able to get that reduced in looking at the proposal this year from Zambelli Fireworks, they also had added a tariff fee onto it, and I was able to get that waived and knocked off. Now, providing three proposals may be difficult. There was only two companies that we'd ever dealt with, PyroSpectacular and also Zambelli, and I'll have to search and find the third. The difficult thing is always finding the pyrotechnics to fire the show and the ability for them to be here on the night we put the show together. July 4th is when we try to stay away from because it's the most used from the bigger communities, and so it takes up most of their manpower or their staff for that.
So, we've always tried to stay to a different date. So, this year we're proposed for Friday, July the 3rd and using the airport because it's such a great secured location for the show, and it gives greater opportunity for people to view the show. So, some suggested a drone show. The only problem with the drone show, it's going to cost close to anywhere from 20 to $25,000 depending on the amount of the show, but it's not able to be viewed as well as the fireworks show is by everyone in the community. And 4th of July, this is the 250th celebration. It's something we need to really, I think, support and to come back with traditional fireworks is what people expect. And the word I'm looking at on Facebook and different comments around the community is majority of people say go with the fireworks. So I'm looking for help from the city to help support us and Kiwanis will do our part to make sure it's a successful show. And we're still going to put together the Family Fun Day with the Chamber and Memorial Park to bring out the community to be a part of that also.”
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez closed public comment.
Council Member Osorio – “Yeah, I would say I appreciate Mr. Kinsey taking the time to meet with me and giving me the context for this item before today. I think that just to start off, I'd be in support of this item as presented for this year, but as I also shared, I would have reservations about continuing to make this amount of allocations, especially if it's been growing. I appreciate city staff providing a table here documenting the payments from 2010 till now, which has totaled $91,100. And so, I remember in 2022 when we doubled the amount that we had given the prior year, that was a big amount to invest, and now we're looking at 20,000 past that allocation. And so again, I do recognize that a lot of cities are planning for the 250th anniversary. I know the Kiwanis Club have done a great job of facilitating this event over the years. And so again, ultimately, I'm in support of this, but do have reservations about making this a continuous allocation.”
Council Member Morris – “I am fully in support of this particular item because I truly believe we ... How should I say this? This is our 250th birthday of our country. And although I know that Kiwanis in the past has really struggled to get people to contribute to a week, and they got some. And I don't see why the city ... Why we can't go out either, even if we support this program, we can still reach out to the prison or we can still reach out to other co-sponsors to help us offset the cost with this fire workshop. And I'm sure that they would be willing to help contribute to that fund. But ultimately, the community thinks that the city puts on this event anyway, and I don't think that nobody says, "Oh, Kiwanis is putting on the fireworks." It's usually the city was putting on the fireworks and that's what they're thinking. And gosh, it's enjoyed by everyone in this community and surrounding communities. So why wouldn't we celebrate it? We have to support this proposal that's been presented here to celebrate that big enough. And I know Kiwanis and the Chamber, they do a terrific job with the Family Fun Day, and it really does feel good when you get out there during Family Fun Day. And you see all those people out there enjoying themselves and having a good time and actually really celebrating our country's birthday. So, I'm in full support of the project.
And like I said, I think if we still go out and ask for funds from other entities that are big contributors in this town that help us out. And I know they get hit all the time because I know that the same people are probably always investing money, but that's what makes them great community partners. So I'm in full support of that.”
Council Member Alindajao – “I think this ... Thanks. The 4th of July fireworks show has been, it's become a tradition of Delano, really. I don't know. How long has it been going on, Steve? Okay. So yeah, it's been at least 40, 40-ish, 50-… 50 years… So it's been a great community event and to do without that event, I think it'd be a loss for the city and the community. I do have though some concerns like Councilman Osorio brought up. Specifically, we have in our ordinance a pathway to an RFP for the fireworks show and a booth and whatnot. Why wasn't that process followed? And we're bringing this ask to the city. Any reason why that happened or that occurred? I'd like to hear from Mr. Dowling if he's still on or ...” Interim Community Development Director Dowling – “Yes, sir. It kind of crept up on me, honestly. And then the proposal came in and then we saw, like you mentioned, Mr. Alindajao, there is an RFP. I checked with staff over the years, a true RFP was not followed. A proposal was always received from the Kiwanis Club, so that's really it. No other reasoning than that. Then we basically ended up following what has been done historically, but you are correct. If you follow the code, the city should have issued a true RFP several months back.”
Council Member Alindajao – “And I don't have an issue with... I think Kiwanis has done a great job, Steve. Thank you for carrying the torch on that. It's been a great event every year. And I assumed that we didn't follow the RFP process because of the, maybe it was a special year, like the 250th anniversary of the country, and I figured that was the reason why. But I think in the future, I mean, let's look at ... Rosa, what's our biannual budget? It's a total amount approximately with all the enterprise funds, over a hundred million?”
Finance Director Rios – “Yes.”
Council Member Alindajao – “Okay. So, $35,000 isn't a huge ask in terms of it being a great community event and following the tradition for our community. So moving forward, sure, I think we ought to follow the RFP. That's what our law says and states. We ought to do that, but I think at some point, I think the city should take it upon themselves to make sure that this event does move forward and happen. So I'm in support of that item today. Thanks.”
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez – “I also, with the rest of the council, do agree that we should support this a hundred percent this year moving forward. Also agree with the council regarding in the future, which may require us to amend the ordinance if we're no longer going to go to the RFP, and that's something we can work on in the future. I believe it's going to be too late for this time around, but if we can start working on that in the future, and I will have a proposal at the end of the evening for something for the future if we do want to do something like that. But again, we've been fortunate enough that Kiwanis has been the one taking the grunt of it, and I understand that it's a stressful situation, and I understand there's years that you're crossing your fingers and asking people to help fund it, and so I'm 100% in agreement with it. And with that being said, we have a motion on the floor of what we would like to do with this for tonight. A motion to approve based on the staff recommendations, we have recommendations one, two, three, and four, which one of the one, two, three, and four or combination of. I'll read the first one here. It says, "Number one from staff is approved general funds not to exceed the amount of $35,000 for fully fund only this year's 4th of July show. Second recommendation is also considered the request of the Kiwanis Club to coordinate this year's fireworks show. At no cost the city and remove themselves from the fireworks booth lottery. In addition, Kiwanis agrees that any donation or funds that may have already been collected or received or will receive through the July 3rd, 2026 for the purpose of the firework show will be donated to the city to offset the cost of the show. Number three is alternatively discuss the city's conducting the coordination of the 4th of July fireworks show or other necessary action related to this item. And number four is authorized a city manager to approve the lowest response bid procured by the Kiwanis Club and to sign the documents necessary to complete this project as directed by council. But your proposal would be a combination of any of the four.” Council Member Osorio – “I think I'd be in support of motioning for one and two. Those work together.” Mayor Pro Tem Nunez – “One, two. Can we also add three? That authorizes the city manager to deal with this afterwards so we don't have to bring it back.” Council Member Osorio – “Yeah. Okay.”
Mayor Pro Tem Nunez – “Sorry, one, two, and four. My correction.” Motion for to approve recommendations one, two and four was made by: Osorio; 2nd by: Morris
Vote: 4-0
Ayes: Nunez/Alindajao/Morris/Osorio
Nays: None
Absent: Solorio-Ruiz
Abstentions: None
DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
Chief of Police Nicholson introduced Commander Larry Camacho.
City Engineer Rodriguez provided a traffic update related to speeding.
COUNCIL STATEMENTS AND REPORTS
Council Member Bryan Osorio – “Yeah, thank you. So, end of April, I attended a meeting co-hosted by the Department of Toxic Substance Control and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
And essentially, it was to discuss, I believe, the first health evaluation that we've had of the indoor air exposures in buildings near the Delano PCE plume site, which has been receiving state funding to address through soil vapor extractions systems. And I hope that at a future meeting we can invite them to present. It looks promising in terms of what they're finding, and I just hope my colleagues get the same information I was able to listen to at this meeting. And the other just quick update, recently I learned about a dear friend and former school board member, Jean Flores, who passed away and just wanted to share my condolences to her family and to her friends who may have known her, and that's it for me.” Council Member Alindajao – “Vice Chiron. Not much, just to say that I attended the Cinco de Mayo Parade. It was well attended. We had a good time, and that's it. Thanks.” Council Member Morris – “No, I don't have anything other than I would like to, again, like Pastor Vivas said, invite everyone to the Community Day of Prayer on the 7th, which is going to be on Thursday, and they're having a terrific day. They're serving Filipino food, and the tickets in advance are $20, and if you buy them at the door, they're $25. So be sure and get your tickets before you go. Okay? I have tickets.
So, if anybody wants any, and that's all I have. Thank you.” “Officer Geivit, of services also too. Our police department really represented that particular ceremony so well. I am so proud of our PD and how they honored him and well to be commended with the job that they did.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Nunez – “Yes, I agree with Councilwoman Morris, Officer Geivit's funeral and his arrangements and everything, and all the men and women from the Delano Police Department, they went all out above and beyond. And today I was even in the store and people were very, very grateful that we recognized one of our own employees, not only employee, but an officer and gave them a good sending.
So they were very, very happy with the city and everybody involved. And again, Chief, if you can thank staff, we say this, thank staff, thanks staff, but very, very proud and please thank the staff because that was an outstanding job that they did this past weekend. Also, Ms. Reyna, if we can get that webpage that Brandon spoke about to file our complaints regarding the bridges or any other issues through Caltrans, we can add it to our water bill and potentially even on our website for the city, maybe even put it out on the Civic Ready. And then my last item is moving forward. I know we had talked about the RFP for the 4th of July. If we want to change what we're currently doing, I don't know what the future's going to hold for our 4th of July and for fireworks show the huge one that gets put on every year with the help of the Kiwanis. So, in sometime in October, put something together and bring back after speaking to people, see what the appetite will be. Are we looking at the city being a full-time sponsor or are we looking at staying with what we are with our RFP or a combination of similar to what we have, but something in October, so that gives us plenty of time to build something and that's all I have.” Mayor Solorio-Ruiz - Absent
CLOSED SESSION
No Items
ADJOURNMENT
Moved by Morris seconded by Alindajao and unanimously carried 4-0 to adjourn the meeting at 6:19pm.
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Ricardo G. Chavez, City Clerk