Minutes
Lakewood City Council
Adjourned Regular Meeting held
November 12, 2024
MEETING WAS CALLED TO ORDER at 6:04 p.m. by Mayor Rogers in the Executive Board Room, 5000 Clark Avenue, Lakewood, California.
ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Mayor Todd Rogers
Vice Mayor Cassandra Chase
Council Member David Arellano
Council Member Steve Croft
Council Member Jeff Wood
. . .
UPDATE OF SHOTSPOTTER GUNSHOT DETECTION, ALERT AND ANALYSIS
SERVICES
Thaddeus McCormack, City Manager, stated that in July a contract and evaluation period with SoundThinking Inc. for their gunshot detection, alert and analysis services, ShotSpotter commenced. He added that the three month evaluation period had concluded and was extended for an additional month so the Council could deliberate and give staff direction to continue or terminate the contract.
Joshua Yordt, Director of Public Safety, displayed slides and made a presentation based on the report in the agenda. He discussed how the ShotSpotter system worked; the system analytics that find the precise location, within 82-feet, of the gunshot; post incident tools such as forensics reports; the gunshot alert view that deputies receive; cost of the services; and assessment of the evaluation period data with a map of detected gunshot locations. Mr.
Yordt concluded by stating that staff believed the ShotSpotter system performed as promised to detect and provide valuable information regarding gunfire incidents in a timely manner to law enforcement which led to improved response.
Captain Dan Holguin, Commander of the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station, stated that deputies felt ShotSpotter was a great tool to respond quickly to gunfire incidents and could help apprehend suspects as well as save lives. Sergeant Jonathan Branham, Pico Rivera Sheriff’s Station, shared that the information received from ShotSpotter was invaluable and put deputies on scene without the public calling and possibly putting themselves at risk.
Staff responded to questions and comments from the Council Members pertaining to data from the evaluation period; cost of the system; ShotSpotter coverage area; using technology as a law enforcement tool; notification of data to the Council; and interest in gathering more figures before proceeding with the contract for the remaining three years. Vice Mayor Chase recommended continuing the services for a year to discover more data and Richard Reyes, Sales Account Executive from SoundThinking, stated that 12 more months of service could be provided for $60,785.
City Council Minutes
November 12, 2024
UPDATE OF SHOTSPOTTER SERVICES - Continued
Mayor Rogers noted that this item was also on the agenda of the regular meeting this evening and that the Council would have another discussion and vote on a direction for the item at that time.
. . .
CALPERS ACCELERATED PAYMENT OPTIONS
Jose Gomez, Director of Finance and Administrative Services, explained that paying down long-term debt (pension obligations) was one of the principal objectives for the revenues generated from the passage of Measure L and he introduced Julio Morales, Senior Managing Director at Kosmont Financial Services, who displayed slides and made a comprehensive presentation based on the report in the agenda regarding accelerated payment options. He noted that CalPERS was a defined benefit type of pension and that the employer (City of Lakewood) assumes the risks of funding shortfalls which become an annual cost named unfunded accrued liability (UAL). He provided background on how the current UAL was realized and discussed the pension funding solution of making an additional discretionary payment (ADP) of $1 million to the UAL to save $2 million in interest over 20 years. Mr.
Gomez concluded by stating that staff recommended the City Council consider appropriating funds from the City’s current General Fund reserves to make an ADP to the City’s CalPERS UAL and annually consider making ADPs from available General Fund surplus amounts, when appropriate.
Staff and the consultant responded to questions and comments from Council Members and it was stated that formal action would be considered at a future public meeting. . . .
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to be brought before the City Council, Mayor Rogers adjourned the meeting at 7:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Isabelle Schultz
Assistant City Clerk