1 MINUTES
Regular Meeting Notice
Gardena City Council
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
The Regular Meeting Notice and Agenda of the Gardena City Council of the City of Gardena, California, was called to order at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in the Council Chamber at City Hall 1700 West 162
nd Street, Gardena, California; Mayor Pro Tem Rodney
G. Tanaka presiding.
1. ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Pro Tem Rodney G. Tanaka; Council Member Mark E . Henderson; Council Member Paulette C. Francis; and Council Member Wanda Love. Other City Officials and Employees present: City Manager Clint Osorio; ; City Attorney Carmen Vasquez; City Clerk Mina Semenza; City Treasurer Guy H. Mato and Deputy City Clerk Becky Romero. Mayor Cerda was away on an excused absence.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON CLOSED SESSION
2. CLOSED SESSION – None
CITY ATTORNEY REPORT OUT OF CLOSED SESSION
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Karen Vasquez and Maya Hironyomous, both in the 3 rd grade at Amestoy Elementary School led the Pledge of Allegiance. Both Karen and Maya are in the Japanese Dual Language Program at Amestoy and are inaugural to the program . Karen also enjoys reading. Maya is gifted in singing, has traveled to Japan and enjoys reading.
4. INVOCATION
Deacon Rodney Blackburn of New Direction Community Church led the Invocation.
5. PRESENTATIONS
5.A Western Avenue Railroad Road Closure Update Presentation; and Normandie Avenue Railroad Road Closure Presentation – both videos were introduced by Public Works Director, Allan Rigg
5.B Gardena Events Video Presentation
6. PROCLAMATIONS
6.A "Women's History Month" - March 2025 – was proclaimed by Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
7. APPOINTMENTS - None
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 2 8. CONSENT CALENDAR
8.A Waiver of Reading in Full of All Ordinances Listed on this Agenda and that they be Read by Title Only
CONTACT: CITY CLERK
8.B Approve Minutes:
Regular Meeting of the City Council, February 25, 2025
CONTACT: CITY CLERK
8.C Receive and File Minutes:
Planning and Environment Quality Commission February 4, 2025 CONTACT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
8.D Approval of Warrants/Payroll Register, March 11, 2025 CONTACT: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
March 11 , 2025: Wire Transfer: 12914- 12933, Prepay: 179709- 179713; Check Numbers: 179714-179873 for Total Warrants issued in the amount of $11,137,968.29; Total Payroll Issued for March 7, 2025: $1,936,295.62
8.E Personnel Report P-2025-5 03-11-25
CONTACT: ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
8.F SECOND READING AND ADOPT ION OF ORDINANCE NO. 1879 , Approving the 1450 Artesia Specific Plan and a Development Agreement to allow the redevelopment of the site with a mixed- use commercial/industrial development consisting of a 268,000 gross square foot building with an approximate height of 75 feet. (Introduced by Councilmember Henderson on February 25, 2025) CONTACT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
ORDINANCE NO. 1879
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
GARDENA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE 1450 ARTESIA
SPECIFIC PLAN AND A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT
WITH 1450 ARTESIA ACQUISITION COMPANY LLC (APNS
6106-036-010, -012, -034, -035, -036, AND -037)
In December of 2021 an application was filed to establish the 1450 Artesia Specific Plan to develop the 6.33 -acre property near the southwest corner of Artesia Blvd and Normandie Avenue with a new 268,000 square foot commercial/industrial mixed-use building for self-storage, office and industrial uses, and to allow the site for outdoor community event space.
On February 25, 2025, the City Council held a publicly noticed hearing to discuss the adoption of Ordinance No. 1879, which approves the 1450 Artesia Specific Plan, associated site plan, and Development Agreement #1-21. At the conclusion of the hearing, Councilmember Henderson introduced Ordinance No. 1879, and the council approved it with a unanimous 5- 0 vote, with an amendment to the proposed development agreement. The final ordinance is now being brought forward for second reading.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 3 It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis, and carried by the following roll call vote to Approve the Consent Calendar:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson and Francis, and Mayo r Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: Council Member Love
9. EXCLUDED CONSENT CALENDAR
10. PLANNING & ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMISSION ACTION SHEET
10.A MARCH 4, 2025, MEETING
1818 West Redondo Beach Boulevard, Resolution No. PC 3-25:
The Planning Commission considered the appeal by The Tire House Inc. from the Director's decision to revoke the approval of Site Plan Review #4-15
Commission Action: The Planning Commission approved Resolution No. PC 3- 25, by vote 5-0, approving the appeal.
City Council Action: Receive and file OR call for review (By way of two votes from the City Council.)
It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis, and carried by the following roll call vote to Receive and File Item 10.A:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson, Francis and Love and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
10.B MARCH 4, 2025, MEETING
Environmental Assessment #18-24, and Conditional Use Permit #8-24 A request for a conditional use permit to operate an amusement arcade within an existing tenant space at 1425 West Artesia Boulevard.
Commission Action: Staff informed the Planning Commission that this item will be brought back to the Planning Commission at the March 18th meeting.
City Council Action: - No action was needed.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 4 11. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
1) Travis Hernandez, Library Manager of Masao W. Sato Library, came to give updates on both the Mayme Dear and Masao W. Sato libraries.
.
12. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES - None
13. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – None
14. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - ELECTED & CITY MANAGER'S OFFICES
14.A Approval of Public Health Services Contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
City Manager Osorio presented the Staff Report.
Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka then asked if anyone had asked to speak on this item and if the Council had any comments or questions. There were no public speakers.
It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis and carried by the following roll call vote to : 1) Approve Public Health Services Contract between the City of Gardena and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and 2) Authorize the City Manager to execute the contract:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson, Francis, and Love and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
15. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS – POLICE - None
16. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - PUBLIC WORKS
16.A Award Engineering Design Services Contract to Kreuzer Consulting Group in the amount of $214,535 for the following eight (8) Street Improvement Projects, JN
526 & 548:
- Normandie Avenue - from Artesia Boulevard to 177th Street - Cassidy Street - from Normandie Avenue to Vermont Avenue - Vermont Avenue - from 177th Street (Flood Channel) to 182nd Street - 132nd Street - from Wilton Place to Western Avenue
- 135th Street - from Western Avenue to Budlong Avenue
- Marine Avenue - from Western Avenue to Vermont Avenue - 145th Street - from Gramercy Place to Western Avenue
- 166th Street - from Western Avenue to Normandie Avenue
City Manager Osorio presented the Staff Report.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 5 Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka then asked if anyone had asked to speak on this item and if the Council had any comments or questions. There were no public speakers.
Questions and comments were made by Council Member Francis and Council Member Love. Director of Public Works Allan Rigg explained the method and process of the street improvements project and answered all questions.
It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis, and carried by the following roll call vote to Award an Engineering Design Services Contract:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson, Francis and Love, and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
16.B Authorize the Contract Renewal Services with Nobel Systems, Inc. in the amount of $95,700 for Geographic Information System (GIS) Hosting Services for a Three- Year Term.
City Manager Osorio presented the Staff Report.
Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka then asked if anyone had asked to speak on this item and if the Council had any comments or questions. There were no public speakers.
Questions and comments were made by Council Member Francis and Council Member Henderson. Director of Public Works Allan Rigg explained how the system works, the security of the data, and answered all questions.
It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis and carried by the following roll call vote to Authorize the Contract Renewal for Geographic Information System (GIS) Services:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson, Francis and Love, and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
17. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - RECREATION & HUMAN SERVICES
17.A Receive and File City of Gardena New Park Designs Report for the Underutilized Lot and Vacant Inventory Project
City Manager Osorio presented the Staff Report.
A presentation was given by Jacob Leon of KTUA.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 6 Questions and comments were made by all Members of the Council regarding the project. Mr. Leon and Director of Recreation and Human Services Stephany Santin answered all questions.
It was moved by Council Member Henderson and seconded by Council Member Francis and carried by the following roll call vote to Receive and File Item 17.A:
Ayes: Council Members Henderson, Francis and Love, and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
18. DEPARTMENTAL ITEMS - TRANSPORTATION
18.A Approve Award of Contract for the Purchase of Automated Passenger Counter System Software for a Contract Amount of $200,931 and a Program Total of $241,118
City Manager Osorio presented the Staff Report.
Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka then asked if anyone had asked to speak on this item and if the Council had any comments or questions. There were no public speakers.
Questions and comments were made by Council Member Henderson and Council Member Francis. Director of Transportation Ernie Crespo answered all questions.
It was moved by Council Member Francis and seconded by Council Member Henderson, and carried by the following roll call vote to Approve Contract and Program Total:
Ayes: Council Members Francis, Henderson and Love, and Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka
Noes: None
Absent: Mayor Cerda
Abstain: None
19. COUNCIL ITEMS - None
20. COUNCIL DIRECTIVES
Council Member Love
Subject: For staff to draft a handbook and establish a structured on-boarding process for newly elected officials within the first 60 days of being sworn into office.
Purpose - To provide newly elected officials with a comprehensive introduction to key department directors, administrative staff and city operations, ensuring they are well equipped to fulfill their responsibilities of effectively.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 7 Reason - A structured on-boarding process and handbook will help newly elected officials become familiar with their roles, responsibilities, and the city operations, allowing them to serve the community more efficiently and make informed decisions.
Benefit - Implementing this directive would benefit the city of Gardena by enhancing government efficiency that will help the newly elected to be better informed to make quicker and more effective decisions and reducing delays in governance. Improve collaborations by fostering early relationships with department heads and city staff, the elected official can streamline communication and cooperation across the departments. Ensuring consistency by creating a standardized onboarding process and handbook to ensure all officials receive the same foundation of knowledge, maintaining continuity and leadership.
Council Member Henderson seconded it.
21. CITY MANAGER REMARKS RE: DIRECTIVES / COUNCIL ITEMS
City Manager Osorio made the following remarks:
1) He informed the Council about a new cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System that will be replacing our old accounting system and will be coming to them for their approval; and
2) He mentioned that he has conducted a recruitment for a Deputy City Manager and will be making an announcement of the outcome.
22. COUNCIL REMARKS
1) COUNCIL MEMBER LOVE - Since the last meeting, she has attended the KJLH Proven Achievers Award representing the City of Gardena. She had the great pleasure of hanging out with Stevie Wonder, retired Senator Steven Bradford, and so many others.
She congratulated all the honorees that won those awards. The honorees did amazing things in the community, like Cheyenne Bryant, who has millions of followers, and is an amazing Counselor, Warr yn Campbell, husband of one of the singers Mary, Mary, a gentleman who owns a self-build library; teaching inner-city kids how to write books and publish books, and the first African American female referee in the NBA. She mentioned she has a message for the community and for the residents who see her out in public and are asking how she is doing . She mentioned she is doing fine, despite all of th e drama that's been going on , and as Councilwoman Francis would normally say, “ better days are coming”.
2) COUNCIL MEMBER FRANCIS – She started by giving a shout out to our staff and thanked them for all the presentations that were given tonight, she appreciates it because it keeps her better informed and updated about what’s going on in our City. She mentioned since the last meeting, she attended the South Bay W orkforce Investment Board orientation and Youth Basketball Award Banquet, and she wished a Happy Women’s History Month, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day. She mentioned r egarding Women's History Month; it has been said that “ the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”. She knows a lot is going on in this world, you see a lot of crazy things going on in the news, and you hear a lot of stuff but, stay faithful, and keep the faith, better days are coming, it’s been promised.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 8 3) COUNCIL MEMBER HENDERSON - He thanked our P ublic Works team for the work they did at the Western railroad crossing, and hopefully, we have the same good fortune at the Normandie crossing. He was explaining to some folks in the community that it takes time for them to line up everything, line up the funding, line up and coordinate with another large public entity, to get all those calendars to work and get it done. Since the last meeting, he has done a lot of community and business visits. He had his Executi ve Board Meeting for the Independent Cities Association. He attended his two policy committees for the Southern California Association of Government s, and his regional Council meeting. He had a special legislative meeting with the SCAG group to go over their plan regarding the submittal of grants. They have scheduled a visit to Washington DC with transportation to make sure that this region and these six counties continue to get funding. Lastly, he attended the Gardena Koi show.
4) MAYOR PRO TEM – Since the last meeting, h e attended the Japanese C onsulate Residence to celebrate the E mperor of Japan’s birthday, hosted by Consul General Kenko Sone. He attended his SBCCOG Board meeting. The SB CCOG recognized a Certificate of Appreciation for the West Basin Water retiree for 10 years of service. The 25th General Assembly is coming on the 27th of March from 9:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. at the Carson Community Center. If you would like to attend, you can register at Southbaycities.org. Also, on Wednesday the 19th, it is the 88 City Summit, at the Torrance Cultural Center from 8:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. you can register at laedc.org. He attended the legislative briefing at the Torrance Cultural Center hosted by the City of Torrance. They had State Senator Ben Allen, A ssembly Member Al Muratsuchi, Assembly Member Tina McKinnor, and S upervisor Janice Hahn. He attended the CA Cities LA County division general meeting, at the Southern California Edison facility in Torrance. He attended his monthly Transportation meeting and the SBCCOG’s Steering Committee meeting.
23. ANNOUNCEMENT(S)
1) Aquatic Center Make a Splash with your feedback Survey ; by participating you will be entered into a raffle to win a $50 credit on any of our Recreation and Human Services programs;
2) Normandie Avenue Railroad Crossing Improvement Project – Closure of Normandie Ave. at railroad crossing between 166
th St. to 168th St. from 10:00 p.m. March 14, 2025,
to 5:00 a.m. March 17 ,2025.
3) Casino Night – March 14, 2025, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Nakaoka Community Center;
4) Girl Boss Workshop – March 21, 2025, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Nakaoka Community Center;
5) Spring Equinox – March 22, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Willows Wetland Preserve;
6) Spring Community Yard Sale – April 5, 2025, from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Mas Fukai Park;
7) Paper Shredding Event – April 5, 2025, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the City Hall Complex; and
8) State of the City – March 13, 2025, starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Nakaoka Community Center.
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE 9 24. REMEMBRANCES
Mr. Tremaine Mayeaux, son of Gardena residents Ray and Joyce Mayeaux
25. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:23 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Tanaka Adjourned the Gardena City Council Meeting to the Closed Session portion of the City Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. and the Regular City Council Meeting at 7:30 p.m. on March 25, 2025.
MINA SEMENZA
City Clerk of the City of Gardena and
APPROVED:
Ex-officio Clerk of the Council
______________________________ By:___________________________ Tasha Cerda, Mayor Becky Romero, Deputy City Clerk
Docusign Envelope ID: E9406B2D-CBDF-4385-9CD0-A39FF8A316DE