MINUTES
JOINT MEETING OF THE
GONZALES CITY COUNCIL AND
GONZALES SUCCESSOR AGENCY
MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2024
6:00 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Mayor Jose L. Rios.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The flag salute was recited by all present.
1 . ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Jose L. Rios Mayor/Chair Present
Scott Funk Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chair Present
Liz Silva Council/Agency Member Present
Lorraine Worthy Council/Agency Member Present
Maria Orozco Council/Agency Member Present
STAFF PRESENT
City Manager Carmen Gil, City Attorney Michael F. Rodriquez, Community Development Director Taven Kinson Brown, Finance Director Mike Howard, Executive Assistant to the City Manager/Deputy City Clerk Mary Villegas, Administrative Assistant II Marisol Gomez, Fire Chief Jason Muscio, and Police Chief Keith Wise.
* Successor Agency Item
PUBLIC NOTICE
This meeting is being conducted consistent with State of California Executive Order N-29-20 dated March 17, 2020, regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The public may participate in person or online via zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87020263943 or call 1 (669) 900-6833 and use Meeting ID: 870 2026 3943. If you wish to make either a general public comment or to comment on a specific agenda item, please use the Raise Hand function. You will be allowed three minutes for your comments.
If you choose not to attend the City Council meeting but wish to make a comment on a specific agenda item, please submit your comment limited to 250 words or less by 12:00p.m. on the day of the meeting to the City Clerk at [email protected].
City Attorney Rodriquez informed the Council, before proceeding with the meeting, that staff received information this afternoon that there were some problems with accessing the agenda that was posted on the website. He mentioned that the Deputy City Clerk went online and didn't have any trouble accessing the agenda, and was actually able to help somebody who was on the phone to access the agenda. He said there had been an allegation made that somehow the posting was not properly made on Friday afternoon.
He indicated that he spoke to the Deputy City Clerk who has been the Deputy City Clerk for a long time, and she said she followed the usual process for posting the agenda, as well as did all the posting measures that we always go through, which was posting in several locations in the City and emailing it out to those individuals who are on the list of people who receive the agenda. He clarified that this wasn't a case where we didn't post the agenda as far as we're concerned, or that we didn't take any corrective actions when we checked it today since the agenda was successful. He added that Mr. Barbara said he tried to access it on Saturday and was unable to download it. He mentioned that the Council had a choice if they want to, we can proceed. He added that as long as there had been substantial compliance with the requirements in the Brown Act, the fact that there was a technological problem that kept it from being posted on the website was not in and of itself the basis for not moving forward the meeting or challenging actions that were taken at the meeting. He said in this case, our assertion would be that it was on the website, and it was accessible but for whatever reason folks were having trouble over the weekend. He concluded we could either move forward with the meeting or we could cancel the meeting, reschedule for a date probably tomorrow at a later time, because it was too late to post for our regular six o'clock time, but we could post for a seven o'clock special meeting to consider the matters that are on the agenda and take up all the other business.
Mayor Rios mentioned that since it was posted on the door here in the chambers and at City Hall, we met the order of the law. He asked the rest of the Council Members for their thoughts.
The rest of the Council Members concurred with the Mayor.
Council Member Silva agreed and mentioned she received the packet around Friday afternoon and when she gets it, she assumes it gets posted as it should be.
City Attorney Rodriquez added that in theory somebody could file an action against the City and say we shouldn't move forward with the meeting because of the fact that there were complaints about it, but we didn't receive any complaints. The only thing that we received was a call this afternoon and we were able to access the agenda, and we definitely do have a record of the fact that we posted it on places that we normally do in compliance with the law, and reiterated that we also sent it out to folks. He said as long as we're all fine that we want to proceed with the meeting this evening, that was fine.
Mayor Pro Tem Funk thought as long as we have legal precedents that we can proceed, and if there was concern we should proceed with caution and move to tomorrow, but we do have legal precedents to move forward and we’re fine.
Mayor Rios informed there was concurrence from the Council to move ahead with this agenda and if someone wanted to voice their opinion, they were free to do so.
BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC
2. Business from the Public not on the Agenda; any member of the Public may address the Council for a period not to exceed three minutes on any subject not on the Agenda. The Council will listen to all communications, but may take no action.
Henry Martinez Jr. commented about the concerns he brought up at the last meeting and also hearing Ms. Orozco who didn't want to hear or listen to any of his concerns. He thought that was a problem.
Mayor Rios asked him if that was a privately conversation because he never heard Ms. Orozco say anything on the dais.
Henry Martinez Sr. commented about being against military equipment because they didn't trust the police; asked why they don't buy non-lethal equipment; and not receiving a call yet regarding his citizen’s arrest request from the 4th of July.
Henry Martinez III, commented about representing the football team and hoped the City could get them equipment; incident about coughing up blood while playing football today and the time he fainted in Paso Robles; and helping and saving people. He wanted a new Chief, a new Corporal and a new Sergeant.
Roman Barba thanked the City for cleaning in front of the post office and hoped they tear down that tree to avoid the same problem. He commented about a water leak on Belden Street; a dead tree by the water tank; and potholes on Fifth Street.
May Martinez, via zoom, commented about moving away due to her pregnancy and the drama happening with her family; visiting Gonzales on the 4th of July and being told by one of the officers they could arrest her because they caught her lighting up illegal fireworks; receiving a citation by an officer she has a case against; seeing a dog always on the street.
CONSENT AGENDA
3. Approve the Joint City Council and Successor Agency - Regular Meeting - July 22, 2024 Minutes
4. Approve City Accounts Payable Warrants #50536-50598
Council Member Silva asked about the warrant for the SPCA which she believed was too high for one month.
Police Chief Wise responded that every animal that was taken there, either by the Police Department Animal Control or public resident, it cost around $200 per animal. He said that particular month we had some residents take litters of kittens, so it adds up really quickly, and the prices also went up.
Council Member Silva asked for clarification if that was not a monthly fee for that particular month. She also asked about what we could do as a community to educate the public that these costs come out of the City treasury and we can't charge the animal owner. *
Police Chief Wise responded yes, and the ironic part about that was that every time motorists traveled down 101 and see an animal in Gonzales, they take it and Gonzales gets billed for it because that's how the contract is written. He said what people can do is get animals chipped so we can return them when we locate them, and it would be great for the animal owners to be more responsible and take care of their animals. He said the department has also asked the SPCA to check IDs to prove people live in Gonzales when they say they live here, but we don't know if they actually do that. He added we've explored the County Animal Shelter as well and it was the same problem. They are also talking about a possible South County location but that was not going to reduce the prices anyways.
City Manager Gil added staff was meeting with the other Cities and see what they can do because they also have the same issue and it has been frustrating about the prices, and they've been told several times that was the price. And even if the County opened a shelter, which they were considering doing, the price would probably stay similar to the SPCA's. She said the biggest issue was that we were not taking a lot of animals in, but it was everybody else dropping them off and being billed to Gonzales.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Liz Silva, Council Member
SECONDER: Lorraine Worthy, Council Member
AYES: Jose L. Rios, Scott Funk, Liz Silva, Lorraine Worthy, Maria Orozco
REGULAR AGENDA
5. Consider Approval of Resolution No. 2024-52, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Gonzales Submitting to the Voters at the General Municipal Election to be Consolidated with the Statewide General Election Held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, A Measure Increasing the City’s Transactions and Use Tax by One-Half Percent (0.5%) with the Use of the Tax Revenue to be Subject to Annual Audits by an Independent Auditor and a Citizen’s Oversight Committee Staff Report: City Manager Gil presented the staff report. She presented the state of Gonzales consisting of the City being awarded the RWJF Culture of Health Price and All-America City Awards, signature projects for FY 2024-2024, current staff operations, current conditions, operating budget, unfunded priorities, operating costs, what a proposed sales tax would do, and comparison to other cities.
City Attorney Rodriquez informed the Council that they had on the dais documents that staff made a couple of minor changes to the resolution and ordinance. He said it was the reference to the entity responsible for the collection and administration of taxes, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and also just to make it clear that this was considered to be a stand alone tax, so this will have a separate oversight committee and have a separate audit done. Unlike Measure X, which is set to expire in 2044, this does not have an expiration date. It would expire when the community decided they wanted to place it back on the agenda.
Public Comment: Henry Martinez Jr. commented he didn't like anymore taxes because our streets were a mess; shipping orders to his Salinas address instead of Gonzales because the post office didn't deliver to some parts of towns. He said until that got fixed and saw a personal return on the City, he won't have anything delivered here. He felt the other side of town was paying less than anyone else.
Roman Barba said he was in support of the tax rate because he knows we need the money. He suggested using some of that money to fix the skate park, and get together with the school district to support the City on this. He also commented about lifted sidewalks by Fanoe Road, and he saw the City needed this money so he was totally for it, and will push his family members to vote yes on this.
Henry Martinez Sr. commented about the police not needing assault rifles because we were a safe community and believed that was a waste of money. He elaborated on a past incident about the Valdez family.
City Attorney Rodriquez reiterated that the resolution before the Council this evening was not approving the tax. He said this was actually placing the tax on the ballot for the voters to decide, which was the beauty of the action that people's opinions could be expressed at the ballot box.
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Lorraine Worthy, Council Member
SECONDER: Liz Silva, Council Member
AYES: Jose L. Rios, Scott Funk, Liz Silva, Lorraine Worthy, Maria Orozco
6. Fourth of July Update
Staff Report: City Manager Gil, Police Chief Wise, and Fire Chief Muscio presented the staff report via powerpoint presentation, which included the actions taken prior to 4th of July, activation of first responders, drone and mass deployment, illegal fireworks citations for the last 4 years, police calls for service by hour, successes and work that still needs to be done.
Public Comment: Henry Martinez Jr. commented he will pay for the fines the two kids from his neighborhood received; the numbers on the newspaper logs being different than the ones presented tonight; having 24 officers in front of his house; and people on that side of town giving the green light where the cops were. He said he will gladly pay those two fines and the rest of them that are across town to prove a point to the police they're going to celebrate the 4th of July no matter what, and he will also have fun taking the district attorney challenge.
Henry Martinez Sr. commented about teaching the officers to be professional and elaborated on the incident on the 4th of July where he got hit with a flashlight. He said he will have fun at the court with the ticket he got and the officer better be there.
His three minutes were up, and Mr. Martinez continued talking and saying he didn't care and to go ahead and arrest him, and said he wanted the Police Chief to touch him. He continued saying the ticket on Tenth Street was filmed outside of that Street.
Mayor Rios thanked him and told him his speaking time was up.
Mr. Martinez got upset and yelled he didn't care and they could yell at him whatever they wanted.
He started approaching the Chief yelling he was guilty of not being there and should have been there on the 4th of July. He interrupted the Mayor saying he didn't care and started yelling "come on arrest me" while approaching the Chief, and his grandson pulled him back.
Roman Barba commented about his neighbors not blowing any fireworks; his cameras catching a person lighting illegal fireworks next to his young son; suggested having officers next year wear regular clothes instead of uniforms, and having goals for next year regarding citations so people can watch it next time.
City Manager Gil mentioned that she asked one of the committee members to share about how the safe and sane sales went.
Larry Rodriguez, Fireworks Committee Member, sent kudos to the committee members for having productive meetings. He said the Spartan 300 Club was a non-profit organization and during the seven days, they generated about $48,000 in sales. He thanked the community that supported them and because of that they will be able to help the scholarship program, child in need program, and the rest of the programs they offer.
Council Member Worthy asked if he knew about Coach Ramirez group sales being down a bit.
Mr. Rodriguez responded he heard about it but they had a different company than the one they used but he didn't know how they did.
Council Member Silva asked what the percentage was that went back to the Spartan 300 Club.
Mr. Rodriguez responded it was 50%.
City Manager Gil told the Council the complaints brought up earlier were being followed up on and reviewed, and there will be a response to the folks who made the complaints.
City Manager Gil concluded this was an informational item and there was no action required.
BUSINESS FROM CITY COUNCIL
7. City Council Board/Committee Reports
a. Transportation Agency for Monterey County
No report. Council Member Silva announced a meeting on Wednesday night at Pessagno Winery regarding the bridge at River Road, and she'll be attending that meeting. b. Mayor Selection Committee
No report.
c. Salinas Valley Recycles
Council Member Silva announced the next meeting on August 15th, and the Annual Employee Appreciation Dinner the following evening in Salinas.
8. Oral Communications
Council Member Orozco thanked Public Works staff for getting the re-striping, streets, signage ready for back to school, which starts on Thursday. She also thanked staff for the senior programs that are being programmed since there was a good response from people attending those programs.
She announced the Rotary Annual Golf Tournament this Saturday, and all the proceeds and funds raised will go for scholarships for our students.
Council Member Silva commented about the follow up call she received regarding the last Council meeting when the Salinas Valley Healthcare system CEO was here and had a great conversation and shared some of that with City Manager Gil. She was happy to collaborate with Blue Zones and Salinas Valley Healthcare and was able to give them a little history of our medical facility and how City Hall was the medical facility when she was a little girl. She asked if anyone had anything, to share it with her so she can convey that information back to them. She reminded everyone about the Monterey County Fair from August 29th- September 2nd.
Council Member Worthy thanked the GYC Members whom she met with Friday along with Council Member Silva, and was very excited about what they're going to do this year. She encouraged all of the Council members to develop more of a relationship with the GYC. On another note, she was walking her dog and took multiple photographs of the dog poop she found in town. She felt this was becoming very bad and shared with the City Manager about trying to put different little kiosks all through town where people maybe will pick it up as they go along with their dogs. She said our community had a problem, and we all have to work together to try to clean it up. She thought also about maybe putting little notices or signs up saying to clean up after your dog. She asked everyone to talk to their neighbors about this because it was filthy out there and she may be encouraging people to bring bags with them because it was a representation of our community. She also said she agreed with Mr. Barba when he brought up concerns but was not the fault of our Public Works staff since they were stretched thin. She concluded it was up to all of us as a community to work together and try to clean this up because it had gotten worse.
City Manager Gil informed that she was waiting for the new fiscal year to get some signs as there was a little bit of money for beautification.
Mayor Rios said he had asked before but now he wanted a timeline of when it will get done. He talked about Fifth Street signage to not allow semis on Fifth Street since this street was already beat up enough, and the Chief couldn't ticket them until Public Works put up the signs. He wanted a specific date when that will get done because he had asked about it and seemed to fall on deaf ears. The other thing was the dead trees that we've had Mr. Barba complain about and noticed in one of the last warrants that we actually paid an arborist to come and tell us why they die. He asked for the reason it took so long to take them out, and felt those were simple little complaints that he heard on regular basis. He asked why Public Works couldn't pick up those dead trees if they were busy picking up branches. He asked for a specific time when those will be done also. He asked the Chief about the other complaint he got frequently regarding abandoned or non-operable cars. He said folks were taking their car from the front and park them in their driveway and then they don't move them. He asked what would take to clean up the town. He suggested adding this role to the dog catcher to cite all those parked cars that had been there for literally years. He asked for some specifics and challenged staff to give him an idea of what they could do as a community to clean up all those useless vehicles. He also had a couple of calls about mobile homes that were sitting on the front yards.
Council Member Orozco said she had also received complaints about pods being in driveways, which was an ongoing problem.
Police Chief Wise responded on the vehicles issue they were being enforced and staff provided statistics in the Police Department activity report monthly on AVA progress, citations issued, and vehicles were being self-abated by owners. He said we belong to the Monterey County Vehicle Abatement Authority, where we receive money back from AVA. So we're very robust and we cleaned up majority of City streets. He mentioned they focused on that because it created more of an issue with street sweeping, garbage pickup, etc., and we have now moved on to private property, which was a little bit different procedure and process to follow. Letters have to be generated and time periods that we have to wait before we could actually tow the vehicle away.
The majority of the time they're self-abated by the property owner after they received the letters, so it wouldn't go down as a stat for vehicles towed and they won't see that in the report. But he assured him they were being followed up on, and as far as the Animal Control/Community Services Officer go, that is a collateral duty responsibility of theirs so that was also been handled.
Mayor Rios wanted to personally see a report with what vehicles in a specific area were cited that way he can go back to the public and tell them he’s heard their comments.
BUSINESS FROM CITY MANAGER
9. Oral Communications
City Manager Gil mentioned there was a question on the construction site, and now that the school was opening back up, there will be additional traffic. She informed everyone that the sidewalk along the front of the Community Center site will be closed off to prevent people from any falls.
She said there was also a question about putting another sidewalk on one of the corners of Rincon and Fifth Streets, but unfortunately, we can't do that because we can't put crosswalks in an uncontrolled intersection as it creates another hazard. She asked people to give themselves some more time as school starts and said construction will try to prevent working on high peak times and will be doing the traffic control in front of the site. She announced the Ventura Circus was planning to come to town and open August 15th- 19th, which was a different circus than what we've had the last three years.
Police Chief Wise announced the National Night Out tomorrow from 6:00pm - 8:00pm.
CLOSED SESSION
Any member of the public may address the Council on a closed session item appearing on the agenda.
Speakers shall have a limited time of three (3) minutes. Please be brief and to the point.
There was none.
10. The City Council will recess to closed session to consider personnel matters pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(B)(1) - City Manager Evaluation.
Council conducted the City Manager evaluation. No other reportable action.
ADJOURNMENT
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Jose L. Rios, Mayor
SECONDER: Lorraine Worthy, Council Member
AYES: Jose L. Rios, Scott Funk, Liz Silva, Lorraine Worthy, Maria Orozco The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
ATTEST:
Mary Villegas, Deputy City Clerk