MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
OF THE LEMON GROVE CITY COUNCIL
LEMON GROVE COMMUNITY CENTER
3146 SCHOOL LANE, LEMON GROVE, CA 91945
TUESDAY, JUNE 16,2026 AT 6:00 P.M.
[These minutes represent a good faith effort to accurately capture the discussion of this meeting. They constitute a true and correct record of the actions taken by the City Council, as prepared by the City Cterk Joel G. Pablo.l
Call to Order
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia convened the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: I'd like to take this time to welcome everyone to the City of Lemon Grove's Regular City Council meeting. The Mayor is running a little bit late, so I'm going to step in. In the meantime, I'd like to remind everyone to please silence your cell phones.
Executive Assistant Dershem, would you please call the roll on the City Council members.
Roll Call
Present: Mayor Alysson Snow, Mayor Pro Tem Jessyka Heredia, Councilmember Seth Smith, Councilmember Jennifer Mendoza, Councilmember Yadira Altamirano.
Shaun Dershem, Executive Assistant conducted the roll. All members were present. Mayor Snow arrived shortly after the opening of the meeting.
Staff enf
Interim City Manager Tony Winney, City Attorney Kristen Steinke, Executive Assistant Shaun Dershem, Interim Finance Director Darlene Morrow-Truver, Public Works Director Izzy Murguia, Human Resources Manager Roberto Hidalgo, Heartland Fire & Rescue's Fire Chief Bent Koch and San Diego Sheriff Office Lt. Patrick Fox.
Pledge of Allegiance
The Assembly recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Chanses to the Asenda
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Item 1.C of the Consent Calendar has been removed from the agenda and will not be considered tonight and has been postponed to the following meeting. City Clerk, are there any other further changes to tonight's agenda? Executive Assistant Dershem stated there were no further changes to the agenda.
Presentations
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None
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: We have no presentations this evening, so we will open this meeting up with public comment.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Paee2 Public Comment
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: During the general public comment portion of this meeting, the public may express their concerns not pertaining to items on the agenda tonight. Please note that, according to state law, the City Council is not permitted to respond to any comments expressed by the public. Per Lemon Grove Municipal Code, Chapter 2.14.150, all remarks must be addressed to the City Council as a body and not to any individual Council member. Each speaker will have an amount of three minutes when speaking. Please observe the green, yellow, and red light function on the podium. The red light indicates that it is time for the next speaker to approach the podium to begin speaking. The first speaker I have tonight is John Elwood.
In Person:
John L. Wood: Somebody needs to get into this to stop using their diesel buses in Lemon Grove because they're very bad buses. If they keep running them -
since we've had a bad time with
them
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if the bus stops, the shelters, they need to resurface all the streets all the way down to the dirt and from the dirt up. All they're looking at is, we just can't do that. Go over to University Avenue and tum left, and you'll see how nice they are. Those buses take up 90% of the road, and we have such wide streets. So it's something I appeal to them about. Thank you.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Thank you, Mr. Wood. As soon as John's ready to move out of there, I'll let you come up. Brenda Hammond, you're our next speaker.
Brenda Hammond: Hi, Brenda Hammond, London Street. I like some of these other people. I think they're going to change our city. The speeding on Central is even worse. I tried parking on the other side of the street, walking it, and traffic calming is ridiculous. I'm your traffic calmer.
If we're not going to do anything about the speeding on Central, could we at least make sure that the street lights are there, because it's really dark on that street. If you're driving on it and people are speeding, they don't see you, even when you're in your car. The lighting needs to be kept up, and I don't see why we have to call comments in. How come we can't let the city staff know about that stuff and let them call it in? Having the city call it in, I think, would be nice. Thank you. I appreciate that, and I appreciate Mayor Pro Tem Heredia helping out.
Written Public Comment was submitted by Truth.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia thanked the speakers and closed the general public comment period' Conse4t Calendar
Mayor Snow: Next, we'll move on to the Consent Calendar. We do have a speaker on the consent item.
Mayor Snow opened the public comment period on the Consent Calendar In Person:
Mat Kostrinsky: Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council. My name is Mat Kostrinsky, AFSCME Local 127.I'mhere to talk
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not against Consent Item l.G
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the only thing I want
to point out is that it misrepresents our MOU. I want to be very clear that the benefits we June 16,2026 Resular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 3 negotiated are not like the rest of the City of Lemon Grove. We negotiate things differently. We are treated differently. I'd appreciate that in the future, when staff does things just like fire, that they actually articulate what 127's benefits are. We are getting one additional flex day, a floating holiday, and that's because one of our folks doesn't work on a Monday and one doesn't work on a Friday between Christmas and New Year's. Some will actually have to work regardless, because they're the only people that open up the parks. I hope that in the future it could be more reflective. Thank you.
Written Public Comment was submitted by Truth.
Mayor Snow: Appreciate it. And thank you to the Public Works members that came today. Do I have a motion to approve the Consent Calendar, absent Item No. 1.C that was removed via changes to the agenda?
Action: Moved by Councilmember Mendoza, seconded by Councilmember Smith to approve Consent Calendar Item Nos. 1.A through 1.8 and 1.D through 1.K, with Item No. 1.C removed from the agenda via Changes to the Agenda.
The motion passed by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Smith, Altamirano, Mendoza, Heredia, Snow
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
Waive the FuIl Text Reading of All Ordinances on the Agenda Action: Waived the full text reading of all ordinances included in this agenda.
Ordinances shall be introduced and adopted by title only.
1.8 City of Lemon Grove Payment Demands
Action: Ratified demands covering May 15, 2026 toMay 28,2026 l.C Approval of City Council Meeting Minutes
Action: This item was removed from the agenda and postponed to the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
1.D Approval of Change Order No. 2 for the Edding Drive Storm Drain Improvement Project (No.2025-08)
Action: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-4186 authorizingthe Interim City Manager to approve Change Order No. 2 to the contract (No. 2025-08) with Montano Pipeline, Inc. in the amount of $20,263.29 for storm drain restoration.
1.E Award of Contract (No. 2026-20) for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Street Rehabilitation Project
Action: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-4187 awarding a contract (No. 2026-20) to Eagle Paving Company, Inc., DBA Toro Engineering, in the amount of $3,271,000 for the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Street Rehabilitation Project and authorizes the Interim City Manager, or designee, to execute any necessary documents.
1.A
Iune 16,2026 Regular Council Meeting City - Minutes Pag,e 4
1.F Agreement for Animal Control Services
Action: Adopted Resolution No.2026-4188 approving the Agreement for Animal Care and Control Services with the City of Chula Vista.
l.G Fiscal Year 2026-27 City Calendar
Action: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-4189 entitled, "A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Lemon Grove, California, Establishing the Fiscal Year 2026-27 City Calendar."
l.H Approve the Engineer's Report Detailing Sewer Service Charges for Fiscal Year 2026-27 (Sanitation District)
Action: Acting as the Lemon Grove Sanitation District Board of Directors, adopted Lemon Grove Sanitation District Resolution No. 2026-05 approving the Engineer's Report detailing sewer service charges for Fiscal Year 2026-271' and directing the District Clerk to cause notice of the filing of the Engineer's Report and to schedule a Public Hearing for considering adoption of the Engineer's Report and authorizing submittal of sewer service charges to the San Diego County Auditor and Controller for inclusion on the Fiscal Year 2026-27 property tax statements.
1.I Award of Agreement (No. 2026-16) to The Capuzzi Consulting Group for the Madera Street Improvement Project
Action: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-4190 approving an agreement (No. 2026-16) with The Capuzzi Consulting Group for the Madera Street Improvement Project and authorizes the Interim City Manager to execute any necessary documents.
1.J Continuation of Emergency Procurement Actions for Emergency Storm Drain Repairs Near 3281 College Place
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Update 5 (4l5th Vote Required)
Action: Adopted, by the required four-fifths vote, Resolution No.2026-4191 authorizing the continuance of emergency repairs to the storm drain system near 3281 College Place.
1.K Award of a Purchase Order to Business Office Outfitters Action: Adopted Resolution No. 2026-4192 awarding a Purchase Order not-to-exceed $ 16,000 to Business Office Outfitters for the replacement of office furniture.
Public Hearinss
2. City Vacancies, Recruitment and Retention Efforts
Mayor Snow: Next, we will move into Public Hearing Item No. 2. This is City vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts. Have all notices required by law been given, and is the complete file of exhibits, correspondence and other documents provided to our City Attorney? City Attorney Steinke: Yes, they have.
Mayor Snow: Thank you. I'll now tum it over to the City Attorney to ask Council if they have any disclosures of conflict of interest relating to this item.
Iune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 5 City Attorney Steinke: I will just go one by one and ask for any disclosures or ex parte communications. Councilmember Smith?
Councilmember Smith: None.
City Attorney Steinke polled each member. Councilmember Altamirano, Councilmember Mendoza, and Mayor Pro Tem Heredia each reported none.
Mayor Snow: I did have the opportunity to speak with AFSCME Local representative Mat Kostrinsky before this. Otherwise, I have nothing to disclose. I'll now open the public hearing, and I will introduce our Human Resources Manager, Roberto Hidalgo to present the staff report.
HR Manager Hidalgo: Good Evening, Mayor and Members of the City Council:
I am here tonight to report on the City's vacancies, recruitment and retention efforts as required by Assembly Bill 2561. Assembly Bill 2561 was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 22,2024, and became effective on January 1,2025. The bill added California Government Code Section 3502.3, under which public agencies are required to hold a public hearing annually and report on vacancies, recruitments and retention efforts; to present additional information if the vacancy rate is at least 20o/o; and it allows employee organizations to make a presentation to the City Council. Back on April 16,2026, AFSCME and the City discussed the opportunity to present to the City Council regarding Assembly Brll256l. The International Association of Firefighters was also made aware of the opportunity. As a result, AFSCME will be presenting after the City's presentation tonight. As of June 3,2026, the AFSCME General Unit has a vacancy rate of 6.67oh out of 15 budgeted positions, with one vacancy. The AFSCME Supervisory Unit has no vacancies out of three budgeted positions, and the International Association of Firefighters has no vacancies out of 19 budgeted positions. The AFSCME General Unit has avacantposition for a Technician II in sanitation. Currently, Human Resources is accepting applications, and the recruitment closes on July 13. For calendar year 2025, the City conducted five recruitments for AFSCME-represented classifications that resulted in 40 hires and one promotion. Heartland Fire and Rescue conducted one promotional recruitment for IAFFrepresented classifications; this effort did not result in any promotions for our fire personnel, however the association onboarded a new hire who was a recruitment carryover from the previous calendar year. As for the City's recruitment and retention efforts, they include negotiated cost-of-living adjustments, initiating a classification and total compensation study in order to remain competitive in the marketplace, maintaining competitive benefits, utilizing various platforms and social media outlets to attract stronger applicant pools, and attending career fairs. Moving forward, the City will continue to monitor vacancy rates and continue presenting to Council annually in order to remain in compliance with Assembly Bill2561.
Staff s recommendation is for Council to receive the report and provide feedback as necessary.
This concludes my presentation, and I'm available to answer any questions you may have.
Mayor Snow: Thank you so much. I appreciate you preparing this report. Next, I'll turn the time over to Mat to speak on behalf of AFSCME.
Iune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 6 Mat Kostrinsky: Thank you very much. AFSCME 127 represents two bargaining units -
the
Supervisory unit, which has threL workers, and 15 in the General Unit. Robert talked about what the legislation actually says. The first part is for the cities. This was enacted with the idea that there are vacancies, and we find too many times where vacancies are not being filled. We had an issue here for 18 months where one of the three supervisor positions went unfilled. We were never involved in that conversation on how to do a better job. That's why this legislation was done
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so that when there are large vacancies, we can work with the City to figure out how to help fill them, how to recruit, what the timeline is, and what problems are going on. It lets us have a conversation with you in front of the scenes, for voters and residents to hear. On contract stabilization: because we were able to finally reach a union contract, you now have a more stable workforce. Before the contract there was a constant turn-and-burn of Public Works -
people
here for months, maybe six months, maybe ayear. Now there's more stability, because there's equity and a structure of equity in place, the rules are fair, and it has reduced the turnover rate.
On unfulfilled commitm"ntr on data: as the HR manager said, there have been exits of employees this last year. We have not received, as was discussed last year, any information on exit interviews. We were supposed to get exit interviews, and we've not heard any of the reasons why anyone left. I know on" of ou. people who left was making under $40,000 ayear, and she couldn't survive as a single mother with a baby, so she had to leave. We need to get copies of those interviews. On delays in postings: what is the City's expected standard timeline to post a vacant position once a two-week notice is given, and where would those Public Works position notices'be published for external application? We had a vaaancy recently, a Street Technician II.
They gave l4-day notice; from May 7 they notified the City they were leaving. I know in other cities,-as ,oon urih"y're told someone is leaving, they get ready to post, or they post right then.
It went 25-plus days since that posting happened. I submitted my PowerPoint yesterday saying this, and last nightthe applicatibn was not online
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it is now online. It says it was posted on
June 11. My members had never seen this application until I showed it to them today. And last but not least, they're being told the job won't close until July 13, so our folks are going to go at least a month and a half. Wh"tt you-only have l5 employees and only two Tech II positions, and one is vacant,that's a lot of extra work. You're burning our folks out by not filling those positions.
Mat Kostrinsky: On dedication and not being able to pay the bills: when the first contract was signed, your ernployees accepted the City's economic constraints and agreed to lower wages to help Lemon Grove stabilize, with the expectation that when there was a better economic outlook, the City could talk about wages. Many of your employees currently quietly have a second job just to make ends meet. tnelOZA inflation surge has squeezed our members tremendously' In iact, today there was an article about how SDG&E is raising rates by about 670. Workers who love publ-ic service will work for less money, but there's a baseline below which the money will no longer pay the bills. You're asking workers to wait until mid-2027 to make an adjustment. A Street Technician's base salary, after this contract goes up 3o/o onJuly 1, will be about $41,050' That is about $1,500 a pay period, and after withholding, that's roughly $1,000 to $1,200 takehome every two weeks. ti's only a 64-cent-an-hour increase on July 1. Gas in Lemon Grove last week was 5S.sq; filling a l2-gallontank costs them about $70 a week. An average one-bedroom apartment here is o,r"r-$ 1,800. On the wage-and-comp study timeline: we were originally told to expect the study by the end of last calendar year; tt didn't happen. Then spring; then we were told December or January. When I put in a request for a side-letter discussion about wages, I'm June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes PageT now told it will probably be October. Regardless, we negotiate with you in February, you have to make decisions, and the wage-and-comp study probably will not affect our members for another two years.
Mayor Snow: How much time do You need?
Mat Kostrinsky: Just a little more time, thank you. We're being told to wait for a wage-andcomp study, white the City Manager position was given a wage adjustment without a wage-and- "o1np
study. Our memb".r' *ug.* are too low, and our members are struggling' We want to be ableio retain people. For our folks to get an additional 3Vo, it would cost the City about $31,606.
We have about $i8,OOO for tuition reimbursement that has not been used, and because the Tech II position is not being filled until at least July 13, that's an additional savings of about $6,000.
WL're asking for a side-letter conversation. Our members should not have to wait another year for relief while facing historic regional spikes. The City Manager has shared that the City Council has restricted him from meeting with us as a union. All we are asking for is a conversation. It does not require that you give us a single penny. We're asking for the ability to make sure those vacancies don't increase. Thank you. Any questions? Mayor Snow: Appreciate it. Before we get to questions, I'm going to see if we have any public comment on this item.
Mayor Snow opened the public comment period'
In Person:
Brenda Hammond: Thank you. Maybe some of you up there don't know how important Public Works is. I've been to the so-called oversight group meetings, taking money from one group and moving it to another to make Broadway look pretty. I've seen the plans to take two lanes on each side and put it into one lane with a shared bike lane. Give me a break. That extra money -
if
you're golttg to take money from the homeless outreach, give it to Public Works, because Public Works are the ones who have to clean up after the homeless people. They're the ones who make Lemon Grove look pretty. Thank you.
Mayor Snow thanked the speaker and noted that Mat Kostrinsky had already had the opportunity to speak.
Mayor Snow then tumed to the City Council for deliberation and questions.
Councilmember Smith: How much is the cost of the increase you were requesting? Mat Kostrinsky: The entire cost for both bargaining units for the whole year is about $31,000.
We've already found over $24,000 just by finding where we haven't spent money. It's $31,000 to do an additional 3Yofor all 18 of them.
Councilmember Smith: Thank you. And as far as posting vacancies, what's our procedure for doing that when we receive them?
Iune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 8 City Attorney Steinke: I think the question from Councilmember Smith was general in nature -
how are they posted? What is your typical process for posting vacancies online? HR Manager Hidalgo: Once HR is given the green light, we'll go ahead and post advertisements. From start to finish it takes about eight to 12 weeks for the recruitment process' For this Technician II in sanitation, I advertised with the American Public Works Association and the California Water Environment Association. We also advertised with the local newspapers and government jobs, and I sent a flyer to all 18 cities within San Diego County' Councilmember Smith: Okay. Thank you. And is there a required time frame from notice to posting that we have to comply with?
IIR Manager Hidalgo: I think every situation is different.
Councilmember Altamirano: Your request at the moment is entering into side-letter discussions to negotiate an increase above and beyond the 3o/o cost-of-living adjustment, correct? Mat Kostrinsky: I don't call it cost of living
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with our MOU it's a wage increase. Yes, we're
asking for a side-letter conversation about potentially looking at an increase above what the current contract has.
councilmember Altamirano: Are you requesting that immediately? Mat Kostrinsky: Yes, I'd like to sit down and talk about it. It does not mean you have to agree to anything; it just allows a conversation that we can bring back to you.
Councilmember Altamirano: The concern I have is that, because the wage-and-comp study is just a couple of months away)there will be some shifting around of positions or adjustments in wages atihattime, and that may overlap with considering an increase. I want to make sure we do this in a uniform way.
City Attorney Steinke: I'd like to jump in for just a minute and remind the Council that this is a vacancy item. While I don't think we've gone too far astray, we want to stay away from negotiating from the dais. You can set a closed session if you'd like to agendize that, and there's a process for having that discussion.
Mat Kostrinsky: Can we answer that question, though
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| r6761'f be in closed session. The
wage-and-comp study will not impact our voting for at least another year. So it won't be a few months. Thank you.
Councilmember Mendoza: I'd like to just suggest that we schedule a closed session on this presentation that we received.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Thank you so much for your presentation; it was very simple to undlrstand and very helpful for me. Is there anything, any advice you could give us, other than June 16,2026 Resular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 9 wages
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other things we could do as a city to retain our employees and better ways of reaching out to find employees, sspecially for that department?
Mat Kostrinsky: Sure. First, actually getting a jump when you fill the position. As soon as someone notifies you, you can start gathering r6sum6s. Some municipalities have a pool of potential people they can call on. There are other places besides cities to recruit from -
for
example,ihe Port oiSu.r Diego is usually where most of our folks have gone. Sitting down with our bargaining-unit members might be good for the HR manager, to hear what they think might be useful. And to hold people, it's not just about wages -
meeting with them, listening to them,
transparency, being able to talk freely and openly. The onboarding cost for a city is a real, major point, because it's taxpayer dollars. For the City of San Diego, a basic person to cut trees costs a minimum of $25,000 iniu*puy"t dollars to onboard, and our folks do more than that. The work you do on the front end saves money on the back end.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: I appreciate that, thank you. I'd like to finish with a comment about pubiic Works. I absolutely appreciate that crew so much. I see you guys out there working hard every day. I think I saw you the other day on North Avenue doing some pothole filling, and I stopped my car to wave and say thank you. $31,000 definitely doesn't sound like a lot of money, and I look forward to a conversation about that in the future. I'd love to see that tour againmaybe reach out and start that around again.
Mayor Snow: Can I get staff to give us a better timeline for the wage-and-hour compensation study, and what stage we're at right now?
Interim City Manager Winney: Yes. We should be completing that study by October, as Mat said. We've just conducted interviews with the consulting firms we are considering. A committee has reviewed those proposals and will be making a recommendation shortly, and then we can look at moving forward with the consultant we select. Completion date is October of this year.
Mayor Snow: When are we anticipating selection of a consulting team? Interim City Manager Winney: We'll be bringing a contract to the City Council probably second meeting next month.
Mayor Snow: When they do their study
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they'll get started probably early August, do
interviews with City staff and the community. What other types of work will they be doing as part of that study?
Interim City Manager Winney: It's a classification and compensation study, so they will do market research into how the positions within our organization compare to other cities within the region, and they will look at how each of our positions is classified, study how those positions ur" fi1l.d and currently executed, and true up any differences between how the job description is written and how the position is currently being filled.
Mayor Snow: Are they meeting with individual staff members to ask them about their jobs? June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 10 Interim City Manager Winney: Yes, I believe that's part of the scope.
Mayor Snow: Thank you. How are exit interviews currently conducted, and are we consistently doing an exit interview with every employee? How are we summarizingthat information? HR Manager Hidalgo: Exit interviews are being conducted; however, they are strictly optional.
There are seven to eight standard questions that I ask, and I forward that to the City Manager and to the higher level.
Mayor Snow: Were any exit interviews conducted in the last fiscal year? HR Manager Hidalgo: Not for AFscME-represented employees. As a matter of fact, the last employee who left declined to participate in the exit interview.
Mayor Snow: Can you give us a summary of what folks are saying? The number one reason is definitely pay. When *" go into closed session, I'd like to know, in addition to these two units, what it would cost to provide the increase to all of our employees, broken out between management level ani staff level, and what pension liabilities would look like, so we have a full underltanding of the numbers. Just as we previously gave a3oh increase to our regular staff while still negotiating the AFSCME contract and later applied it retroactively to our Public Works staff, i want our Public Works staff to understand that even if we have to wait for the wage-and-comp study, it is an option for us to apply increases retroactively' I don't think anybody in this room thinks ouistaff are getting paid market rcte; we just need to know how far off we are. I also want to highlight that because our Public Works staff organized and unionized, it has benefited the rest of the employees
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the rising tide lifts all boats. So thank you. I'd like to have you receive the rePort.
Following discussion, the City Council received the report and the public comment presented in connection with Assernbly Biil 2561 (California Government Code Section 3502.3) and provided feedback as appropriate.
Action: By the consensus and direction of the City Council, the City Council conducted the pnUti" t.u.ing, received public comment, and received the presentation on the status of the -City'r
uu"un"1.r, recruitment, andretention efforts as required by Assembly 81112561 (California Govemment Code Section 3502.3). No resolution was associated with this item. No formal vote was taken.
3. 2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program
Mayor Snow: Next, we'll move to the public hearing on Item No. 3. This is the2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program. Public Works Director Izzy Murguia. Have all notices required by law been provided, and has the complete file of exhibits, correspondence, and other documents been provided?
Public Works Director Murguia: Yes, they have.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 1 I Mayor Snow: I'll turn it over to the City Attorney to ask Council about any disclosures or conflicts of interest relating to this item. To expedite, since it generally favorably affects the City, I'll ask if anybody has any ex parte communications or conflicts to disclose. Seeing none. I wili now open thepubiic hearing, and introduce Public Works Director Murguia to present the staffreport.
public Works Director Murguia: Good Evening, Mayor and Members of the City Council:
Tonight's public hearing item is Ihe2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program, also known as the RTIp. fne nfIP is a five-year planning document that identifies projects and programs in the San Diego region proposed to be funded. Each member agency of SANDAG must approve a program of projects as part of the RTIP process. The RTIP process occurs every two yeais, is updated .u.ry t*o years, and can be amended quarterly. Projects funded with fedeial, state, or TransNet funds must be included in an approved RTIP, because SANDAG is the region's coordinator for submitting the RTIP to the federal Transportation Department. How Transi{et plays into the RTIP: the City's projects are primarily funded through TransNet.
TransNet ir u huti."nt sales tax administered by SANDAG to fund local transportation projects consistent with the regional plan. TransNet was first approved in 1987 and extendedin2004' The majority of TransNet funds flow through SANDAG, which then disperses them to the local agencies and the two transit operators in the county
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MTS and North County Transit District.
SANDAG also administers grant projects such as the Smart Growth Initiative program. This slide goes over the five-year p.ogi* of projects we're submitting to SANDAG and for which we'rJasking for public ittp.rt. Our ongoing programs begin with traffic improvements, listed in the budget * fOt+. Preventative maintenance
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this program funds material specifically
related t .ig6t-of-way: asphalt, DG, any material utilized for road improvements' Drainage improvements preventative maintenance, LG 15, funds maintenance of our earthen channels -
Bakersfield, Main Street, Citronella, and various channels. Drainage improvements LG 16 funds storm drain replacements, usually small sections, typically $100,000 to $200,000. Street improvements f-C l7 funds asphalt, DG rock, and core space needed for road improvements. LG 14 trafficimprovements funds maintenance on our traffic signals; we have 30traffic signals in the city, mosi about 40 years old, and this is the only primary funding source for traffic signals until Measure T. Lastly, LG 20 street improvements pays for our road improvements and capital improvement projects, such as the agreement the Council approved under the consent item. public Works Director Murguia: Now moving to capacity-increasing programs -
projects
funded through a specific type of grant funding, whether TransNet or Active Transportation.
Connect Main Street phases One through Three is listed in the current RTIP because we're in the closeout phase of the project, still going through reimbursement with SANDAG. Connect Main Street phases Two through Three and Four through Six
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in essence from Buena Vista Avenue
through Massachusetts
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are projects funded by the Active Transportation Program, with SAS working on the scope of workioithe design. LG 29, Lemon Grove Massachusetts Avenue Safe Routesio Transit, is a newly awarded project from SANDAG through the recent SKIP grant program. The Lemon Grovi Regional Bikeway Corridor Study was also awarded through the 'Srciit pro""ss and must be listed in the RTIP. Lastly, the Broadway/Sweetwater Road intersection improvements, LG 31, is a three-and-a-half-million-dollar project, also awarded through the program. For those last three, we have recently been granted the agreement by June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 12 SANDAG, so our next step is to develop the scope of work and put it out to bid for a consultant to do the design work. As part of the TransNet program, at least 70o/o of your projects have to be congestion relief
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increasing capacity
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and no more than30o/o can be dedicated to
maintenance, and the budget we're proposing abides by that requirement. This slide shows the estimated revenue forecast for TransNet; Lemon Grove is highlighted in red, and it lists the annual estimated revenue SANDAG anticipates for the City to receive over the five-year period, 2027 through2031. For example, LG 14 for FY 2026-27 we have $125,000 programmed, which matches the budget the Council approved at the last meeting; drainage improvements preventative maintenance $60,000, drainage improvements construction $146,000, street improvements preventative maintenance $50,000, and street improvements for street rehabilitation $680,000
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those five total about $ 1 ,061,000, which matches the revenue forecast through the five-year program. Those projects are staff s recommendation to be part of the 2027 RTIP. If there are any amendments by the Council, we would recommend the Council adopt the 2021 RTIP as it is, and then we can amend it during the2027 amendment process. The City is required to submit a resolution to SANDAG by July 1, and then SANDAG will hold its public hearing process on all the RTIP submittals from all 18 member agencies and submit the overall RTIP document to the Transportation Department in the fall of 2026. That concludes staff s recommendation; I'm available for any questions.
Mayor Snow: Thank you so much. Do we have any public comment on this item? There was no public comment on this item.
Written Public Comment was submitted tryTruth.
Mayor Snow: We will now close the public comment portion and move to questions and deliberations. I' ll start with Councilmember Altamirano.
Councilmember Altamirano: Thank you, Mr. Murguia, for the report. The first five projects add up to about $1,061,000. Other than Connect Main Street, the $4.5 million for the last three projects looks like it's above whatever is listed here. So what we get allocated is the $1,061,000 io. th" first five projects, and then the Main Street project, and then an additional $4.5 million for the last three projects that's not listed here. Anything SANDAG grants in addition to that is separate, correct?
Public Works Director Murguia: Can you rephrase your question? Councilmember Altamirano: There's $4.5 million that adds up across the last three projects -
the Broadway/Sweetwater, the Lemon Grove Regional Bikeway Study, and the Lemon Grove Massachusetts Avenue Safe Routes. Is that included in the total amount that's going to be distributed to Lemon Grove?
Public Works Director Murguia: I understand the question now. Thank you. No, it's separate Councilmember Altamirano: It's above and beyond?
Public Works Director Murguia: Above and beyond, correct' June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 13 Councilmember Altamirano: So my understanding is that SANDAG will grant additional funding from what is listed here?
Public Works Director Murguia: Correct.
Councilmember Altamirano: Okay. Thank you.
Councilmember Smith: Just to follow up on that, rather than assuming -
those are grants from
SANDAG, correct?
Public Works Director Murguia: Yes.
Councilmember Smith: I really didn't have any other questions on this item.
Councilmember Mendoza: I just had a comment. The first time I realized there was that70130 split
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that means only 30% of this money can be used to actually fix our roads, and the other iyyo
"unonly
be used for congestion relief. There are some very serious talks at SANDAG right now to change or eliminate that 70130 split, so that we would be able to use more of this money that we're getting through our own tax dollars. It's not a gift from SANDAG; it is our residents' tax dollars. The diffrculty is that TransNet was approved by the voters, and the 70130 split is part of what was approved. As we go forward, this is something that those of us who sit on the SANDAG board should definitely be paying attention to and relay to our other Council members.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Thank you so much for your presentation, Mr. Murguia. I don't know if I missed it
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the money for fiscal year 2027-28,the five projects listed, are they actual projects?
Public Works Director Murguia: You can think of them as funding sources, which then match our Capital Improvement Program funds, which eventually become projects.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Okay, so it's not like the $125,000 per traffic improvements we can say went for this specific thing. Just making sure. And one other thing -
could you please make
the columns up there a little easier to read in the future? Thank you so much.
Mayor Snow: Do we have any further questions or deliberations? Do I have a motion to close the public hearing?
Action: Motion by Councilmember Altamirano and second by Councilmember Smith, the City Council closed the public hearing by unanimous voice vote (AYES: Smith, Altamirano, Mendoza, Heredia, Snow; NOES: None).
Action: Moved by Councilmember Mendoza, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Heredia to adopt Resolution No.2026-4193 approving the 2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program for Fiscal Year 2026-27 tl' ough Fiscal Year 2030-31.
Iune 16,2026 Regular Ciry Council Meeting - Minutes Page 14 The motion passed by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Smith, Altamirano,Mendoza,Heredia, Snow
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
4. Resolution Establishing Assessments for the Wildflower Landscape Maintenance Assessment District 97-l to be Collected on the San Diego Counfy Property Tax Roll for Fiscal Year 2026-27
Mayor Snow: Next, we'll move on to public hearing Item No. 4. This is the resolution establishing assessments for the Wildflower Landscape Maintenance Assessment District 97-1, to be collected on the San Diego County property tax roll for Fiscal Year 2026-27.Have all notices required by law been given, and is the complete file of exhibits, correspondence, and other documents provided?
City Attorney Steinke: Yes.
Mayor Snow: Thank you. I'll turn it over to the City Attomey to ask Council if they have any disclosures or conflicts of interest related to this item.
City Attorney Steinke: Since this is an item that affects the City generally, I would just ask unybody who has a conflict of interest or ex parte communication to disclose that now.
Mayor Snow: Seeing none. Thank you. I'll now open the public hearing. I'll introduce Public Works Director Murguia to present the staff report.
Public Works Director Murguia: Thank you, Mayor and Members of the City Council:
Tonight's public hearing is on the Landscape Maintenance Assessment District for the Wildflower district. On May 19,2026, the City Council adopted a resolution declaring the City's intention to levy and collect assessments within the Wildflower Landscape Maintenance Assessment District, and scheduling a public hearing for June 16. A bit of background: the Landscape Maintenance Assessment District was established in 1997 in accordance with the Landscape and Lighting Act of 1972.It consists of 46 parcels -
single-family residences along
Gold Lake Road, Gr"rn Lake Court, Long Lake Court, and Blue Lake Court' The District is responsible for landscaping
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primarily shrubs, ground cover, and trees
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primarily centered
on ih" east side of Gold Lake Road and the fire access road from Gold Lake Road to San Miguel.
The assessments are collected on the San Diego County property tax roll. The Fiscal Year 2025- 26 assessment rate for the 46 properties was $263.08 per year. Staff is recommending an increase to $27L 60 per year, anincrease of 3.24oh, or $8.52 ayear, or 71 cents per month. There is a maximum cap on the assessment of $335; anything below $335 does not require a Proposition 218 hearing, so the City can go up to the max, but we're proposing a3.24Yo increase to match CPI. The district funds landscape maintenance
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shrubs, ground cover, irrigation, utility costs
such as water, and tree maintenance. Historically the district has not had sufficient fund balance to undertake capital improvements such as replacing irrigation timers; one of our focuses has been building up the reserve for this assessment district, where best practice is six months of June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 15 expenditures. The table reflects what the Council approved in the Fiscal Yeat 2026-27 budget, wiih total expenditures of $12,506 and about $184 left over relative to what we're collecting, with an estimated ending fund balance projection of about $4,480. The current service level for this district is Service Level B
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twice a month. Ideally this district would be at a weekly service level because of the amount of pine trees along Gold Lake Road that produce a lot of pine needles, but weekly service is more than we collect in revenue, so we've held steady at Service Level B. That concludes staff s presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Mayor Snow: Do we have any public comment on this item? There was no public comment on this item.
Mayor Snow: This will close the public comment portion, and I'11turn to our City Council for questions and deliberation. I'll start with Councilmember Smith.
Councilmember Smith: Thank you. Not so much a question as an observation. For this district we have a cap of $335 per equivalent dwelling unit, and assuming 3oh over the next several years, we will hit that cap, and atthatpoint we would need a hearing to see if we can increase ihut "up.If
we can't, the City would start subsidizing one landscape ateato the exclusion of the rest ofihe city. I was actually kind of surprised that we have the district, because usually this is something an HOA would do. So I just want to point out that in the near future we could find ourselves subsidizing one area over another, and we should be thinking about what we do when we get there, so we don't show preference to any one area over the rest of the city.
Councilmember Mendoza: I walk through this area quite frequently. Whoever we're contracting with is doing the best they can with the time we allot them, but a lot of the sprinklers are broken or turned off, and as a result a lot of the plants have died. What really set this district back was a few years ago when one of the trees was destroying someone's driveway, and we were responsible for the tree, so the district had to pay to dig up and repair their driveway, and all of that money came out of this fund. There's danger of that happening again. Also, the walkway that goes from the cul-de-sac up to San Miguel was a wonderful idea in 1997, because kids from this neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods on Mount Vemon are able to safely walk to school. I don't want to lose this amenity, and it's not just an amenity for the people who live here. As Councilmember Smith mentioned, we need a deeper conversation in the future. Our interim City Manager had a good suggestion about approaching the folks who live in this neighborhood and asking if they'd be willing to contribute more, and we could do some implovements to the arei on Mount Vernon
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there's a little area that's full of live and dead
bushes and pine needles right now, but it could be a nice little park area.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Thank you for the presentation. Going back to our Public Works discussion earlier, this seems like a great item where you could utilize Public Works versus the contracted services. It doesn't sound like most of the work is difficult, and I was wondering if we could look at what that might save us, because we're going to be looking for different ways to do reVenue.Andthepinetreei-lotsofneed1esandruiningpeople'ssidewalks into removing those trees and replacing them with a better tree? Iune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 16 public Works Director Murguia: A couple of things. When the development first went in, as a condition of the approvals it was required to set up a landscape maintenance district to fund the maintenance of these areas. This is lh" on" and only maintenance district in the entire city' Public Works staff can view it; however, we need to track and calculate the time we're doing that so we can charge it back to the district. Otherwise, the General Fund is supplementing the landscaping in this district, which would be beyond what was initially anticipated when the district was set up. Our staff does respond to illegal dumps or to close the gap between our contractor and the rigtrfof-way. Typicaliy with landicape maintenance assessment districts, there's a general benefit contribution provided. In this case, in the Engineer's Report on page eight, there is not a defined general-benefit contribution, because the benefits of the landscape areas are primarily reservedlo the people who live there; you don't have the general public traversing through Gold Lake. However, the Engineer's Report mentions that, in the absence of a calculation, the City could contribute additional funds limited to tree management, weed abatement, rodent control, or erosion control services. Removing a pine tree would be about $3,000; there are 46 trees, so we,d be looking at over $100,000 for tree removals, exclusive of tree plantings. We're waiting for our budget to get closer so our tree-maintenance contractor can do some tree trimming -
I
think we got a quote for about $27,000. But that maintenance is a contribution from the General Fund to the disirict, so if we were going to remove trees, it would need a contribution from the General Fund.
Mayor pro Tem Heredia: Thank you for explaining both of those and how they would not work.
Public Works Director Murguia: They will not work'
Mayor Snow: Are there any other further comments or deliberations? I'll move to close the public hearing.
Action: By motion of Mayor Snow and second by Councilmember Smith, the City Council Inr"a tn.bublic hearingby a5-0 vote (AYES: Smith, Altamirano,Mendoza, Heredia, Snow; NOES: None).
Action: Moved by Mayor Snow, seconded by Councilmember Smith, to adopt Resolution No. 2026-4194 confirmingihe Fiscal year 2026-27 Engineer's Report and ordering the transmission of charges to the San Diego County Auditor and Controller for collection' The motion passed by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Smith, Altamirano, Mendoza, Heredia, Snow
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
5. public Hearing and Resolution AuthorizingAnnual Charges for the Lemon Grove Roadway Lighting District to be Collected on the San Diego County Property Tax Roll for Fiscal Year 2026-27
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 17 Mayor Snow: Next, we will move on to public hearing Item No. 5, the public hearing and resolution authorizing annual charges for the Lemon Grove Roadway Lighting District to be collected on the San Diego County property tax roll for Fiscal Yeat 2026-27 'I'll turn it over to the City Attorney to make sure all notices required by law have been given and the complete file of exhibits, coffespondence, and other documents has been provided.
City Attorney Steinke: Confirming that all notices have been given and that the file is complete' And f would ask, as I have with the past two items, whether there are any conflicts of interest or ex parte communications to report from the City Council.
Mayor Snow: Seeing none, we can proceed. I now open the public hearing, and I will introduce Public Works Director Murguia to present the staff report.
Public Works Director Murguia: Thank you, Mayor and Members of the City Council.
Tonight's public hearing is the resolution authonzingthe annual charges for the Lemon Grove Roadway Llgfrtitrg District to be collected on the San Diego County property tax roll for Fiscal year 2026-27 . On June 2, the District Board approved a resolution declaring its intention to levy and collect assessments within the Lemon Grove Roadway Lighting District, specifically the local benefitzone, and setting a public hearing for June 16,2026. A bit of background: the Roadway Lighting District was Created in1979. Previously it was a county lighting district, and when the city incorporated it was transferred to the city and reorganized in 1919. The district includes two zones. The first is the local benefit zone, or Zote A, which is what tonight's public hearing concerns. These street lights are located on residential streets, primarily at mid-blocks, benefiting specific locahzed areas. There are approximately 700 street lights within this zone, funded primarily through assessments. The second zone is the general benefit zone, or ZoneB; these lights are iocated on arterials and collectors, placed at intersections, cul-de-sacs, and endpoints, benefiting the public atlarge, with approximately 455 street lights. The dark dots on the graphic are in the general benefit zone, primarily on arterials and collectors such as Broidway, Massachusetts, and Central; the lighter, unshaded dots are on residential streets. The local benefitZone A is funded by a $12 per benefit unit assessment rate. This rate remains unchanged and has remained unchanged since 1997, the last time the city held a Proposition 21 8 to increase it to $12. The assessments the maintenance zone collects are not sufficient to cover its operating and long-term maintenance costs, and it faces a structural deficit in the future' As part oiory p-gru- for next year, we willbe conducting a lighting study -
not only of where
lighting is deficient, but also long-term funding strategies for our streetlight inventory. To ensure long-terrn financial stability, some type of increase in the assessments will need to occur, but todiy, because we're not doing a Proposition2ls,we're only proposing the $12 that has been in effect since 1997. The general benefit zone is funded by l% of the property tax. In the Fiscal year 2026-27 budget, the $70,000 I'm referencing is a transfer fromZoneB to Zone A. For Zone A,in your budget book it's listed as Fund 12, with a projected fund balance of $22,028; we estimate coilecting S|ZZ,ZZA in revenue, with expenditures estimated at $194,385, for a deficit of $61,149. However, that deficit gets corrected with the transfer in of $70,000 from the general benefit zone,leaving an estimated ending fund balance of $25,979. There is not a lot of money in there to put in street lights on residential streets or buy luminaires; this maintenance zone is financialiy strapped. Tonight's public hearing is to approve the $12 to go on the property tax roll.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 18 If approved, we will spend July ensuring the tax roll gets to the county by August 7, and owners wili start seeing it on their property tax bill in December and March -
$12, split six and six.
There are 6,790 parcels being assessed, which amounts to 11,019.82 benefit units, for a total assessment amount of $132,235. That concludes staff s presentation; I'm happy to answer any questions.
Mayor Snow: Do we have any public comment on this item? There it is -
a late submission'
Public comment from John L. Wood.
Mayor Snow opened the public comment period.
In Person:
John L. Wood: Your lights are terrible. The other day I noticed a light across the street from me start flickering, go off, wait an hour or two, come back on, then go off again. Where I live is very dark. You have street lights for a reason. I don't understand why the city can't call SDG&E to have them replaced. I would have to call them, but then I have to find the pole number, and the pole number on the older ones is three strips of numbers you have to get down really close to iead
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and standing on Central is a real scary thing. Something has to be done. I don't care if you buy brand-new ones, but you have to get the things fixed or replaced. Thank you.
Mayor Snow: Appreciate those comments. Now we'll look to our Council and start questions and deliberations with Councilmember Smith.
Councilmember Smith: Thanks for the presentation and for the comments. As was said, our lighting district budget barely covers maintenance, and really doesn't. I appreciate that we're going to b" doitrg a lighting study and figuring out what that cost needs to be. I really want to Jmphasire that when we do that, we need some mechanism for creating a CIP budget so we have away to put in new lights rather than just doing maintenance. t imagine what we have is old enough to be high-pressure sodium lights, and switching from high-pressure sodium to LED luminaires is orders of magnitude more efficient
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there'd be some cost up front in replacing all
of that, but a long-term benefit. I look forward to the study and to hopefully having some CIP funds when we make that change. We just need to make sure we have some money to improve this.
Councilmember Altamirano: Thank you,Izzy, for the presentation. I don't have any questions.
I just love math, so I ran my own numbers, and it looks like we need a break-even amount of $17.64 per benefit unit in order to just pay the bills without having to take from the ZoneB general fund. I realize that in 29 years- almost 30 years -
the same rate since 1997, if we had
only raised the fee by 25 cents, we would not be in this situation. Thank you.
Councilmember Mendoza: That's a good point. How much would it cost to do a Prop 218 increase?
Public Works Director Murguia: There are about 6,700 parcels; mailing would be roughly 60 cents times 6,700,just for the Prop 218 noticing requirement. Then there's the Engineer's June 16,2026 Reeular CiW Council Meetins - Minutes Page 19 Report, and they'll have to look at whether there needs to be an additional assessment layer. It gets pretty complicated based on how the original district was formed' I would say about $10,000 for the initial ProP 218.
Councilmember Mendoza: So it's a process. I had a question about the new solar lights going in on Main Street
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will those be part of Zone A or ZoneB?
Public Works Director Murguia: They're funded out of the general benefit zone.
Councilmember Mendoza: Okay, great. And some of our street lights are owned by and the responsibility of SDG&E. What is the process
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do I have to call SDG&E, or if I report it to the
city, do we as a city follow up with SDG&E to fix those? public Works Director Murguia: Both cases are true. SDG&E has a web portal where you can self-report the streetlight. If we get a call or a service request about a streetlight outage and we followup with the property owner and determine it's a wooden pole that belongs to SDG&E, we typically follow up-wiih SDG&E, or we tell the resident they can follow up themselves to get updates. SDG&E has actually told us they prefer the resident to follow up on any outages, primarily because they can then provide updates on when the light will be fixed.
Councilmember Mendoza: Okay. And then, piggybacking on what Councilmember Altamirano brought up, maybe at some time we should look into increasing the assessment to something that -orJcloslly reflects
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and that's the thing, it's not a tax, it's an assessment, so we have to have the backup for what it actually costs to provide that service.
Interim City Manager Winney: Just real quick
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if you recall, we also included some funds in
the budget this fiscaiyear to do a study of lighting districts, looking at some of the questions the Councifis raising right now, as well as the potential of adding lights in different areas of the city' Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Okay, thank you. It sounds to me like we can't afford to not reassess the irrop 218, so I'd like to get that agendized sooner rather than later. Once we have our study, I think if ll really help us make a choice, but I don't want to push this out to next budget season.
When you say $17, do you know if we can increase it above what it needs to be self-supporting, or what are the guidelines?
public Works Director Murguia: What Councilmember Altamirano did was a simple math equation, but when you undertake an Engineer's Report, they look at what capital improvements yog n."i, your maintenance costs, your administrative costs, and back into a recommended number. So I don't know if the $17 would be the result the engineer reports.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Right. Is there a percentage cap or any of that we have to follow? public Works Director Murguia: Typically with special districts, staff would have flexibility in how it's written into the Proposition 2 I 8 notice, so it could be capped at 3oh, or 3oh or CPI -
we have some flexibility.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 20 Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Okay. And can we even write in there to be reassessed each year, or do we have to keep doing this 218 every single time?
public Works Director Murguia: If we went through the process and, say, it's $17 initially with CPI moving forward, then you would not need to go back to a2l8 until you meet the max' whatever that max is determined to be when the study is undertaken. And just for the Prop 218 notice
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the board, depending on what you're assessing, would approve to have the hearing' and then typically it's 50% plus one. As long as you don't have a majority protest of 50% plus one in rejection, the assessment can be approved.
Mayor Snow: Thank you so much. I would like at this time to move to close the public hearing portion of the meeting.
Councilmember Smith: Can I make a clarification question? Mayor Snow: Yes.
Councilmember Smith: Just wanted to clariff that when I was speaking on the CIP portion, using your $17 as the base, why I'm suggesting having room for CIP is having an assessment abovi that, so we have room to do some capital improvement projects. And as far as SDG&E lights, my understanding is those are lights connected to power lines, so they're out of our cJntrol; but if there arc any standalone lights, if there's a process we could look into for buying that light and making it ours so we can maintain it. I don't know that there are any, but the more things we're able to address ourselves, we can do more quickly if we have the money' By iotion of Mayor Snow and second by Councilmember Smith, the City Council closed the public hearing by a 5-0 vote (AYES: Smith, Altamirano, Mendoza, Heredia, Snow).
Action: Acting as the Lemon Grove Roadway Lighting District Board of Directors, moved by Chair Snow, seconded by Board Member Mendoza to adopt Lemon Grove Roadway Lighting District Resolution No.2026-03 confirming the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Engineer's Report and ordering the transmission of charges to the San Diego County Auditor and Controller for collection.
The motion passed by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Board Members Smith, Altamirano,Mendoza, Vice Chair Heredia, Chair Snow NOES: None
ABSENT: None
Reports to Council
G. Discussion on Fiscal Year 2026-27 Salary Plan & Classification Summary Mayor Snow: Next, we'll have the Reports to Council. This is Item No. 6, a discussion on the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Salary Plan and Classification Summary. I will call on Interim City Manager Tony Winney and Interim Finance Director Darlene Morrow-Truver to present the report.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page2l Interim City Manager Winney: Thank you, and Good Evening, Mayor, Council Members, and the Public
We wanted to start with a quick summary of why we're here. We came on June 2 to the City Council as part of our Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget process to have the Salary Plan and Classification Summary approved. The Council approved a 30% cost-of-living increase for all employees at that meeting. A new position had been included in the plan -
the Community
Oevelopment Director. Council was split on what they wanted to do with that, so they asked that we come back today. We are returning with some additional cost information for selected positions, and we have a recommendation. The first position was the Community Development birector, and also mention of a Code Enforcement Officer. With benefits, at the top step, the Community Development Director would cost $240,910. A Code Enforcement Officer would be approximaiely $1 18,203 with benefits, the difference being $122,707less to have a Code Enforcement Offrcer full-time. There was also some thought of an Assistant City Manager versus the Senior Management Analyst, as we have a vacancy with the Senior Management Analyst right now. The Assistant City Manager with benefits at the top is $264,09I, and the Senior Mlanagement Analyst costs approximately $167,539, a difference of about $97,452 that would be additional to what we budgeted. We also wanted to bring to your attention a priority in our Finance Department. We currently have a Finance Director and two accounting analysts. We wanted to look at giving a range from accounting to a senior to the Finance Director, so that we have less turnover and a better structure. The majority of small cities in San Diego have a finance director, a finance manager) a senior accountant, and then regular accountants. We have one director level and then two lower-level accountants, which puts a lot of burden on your Finance Director, and there's no way for the accountants to promote up. The cost wouldn't be adding a position; it would be reclassifying one of the accounting analysts to a Senior Management Analyst classification the city already has, allowing them to supervise some staff and giving the Finance Director the ability to think, plan, and analyze. We are recommending that we reclassiff one of the accounting analysts to a Senior Management Analyst for approximately $29,500 more at the high end; that we eliminate the Community Development Director consideration, which *" *.."n't sure about and hadn't had time to fully spend on; and we're suggesting you could put that difference, approximately $204,500, toward a possible homeless outreach contract, retuming at alater date with information. We would like to evaluate the outcomes of the classification and compensation study this fall and determine additional staffing budget needs. We're asking tonight to adopt a iesolution approving the revised City of Lemon Grove Salary Plan and Classification Summary for Fiscal Year 2026-2T,whrchremoves the Community Development Director and reclassifies one of the accounting analysts to a Senior Management Analyst' That is the end of our presentation.
Mayor Snow: Thank you. We do have public comment on this item. I'll call Mat Kostrinsky.
Mayor Snow opened the public comment period.
In Person:
Mat Kostrinsky: Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Mat Kostrinsky with AFSCME Local l27.Iwant to point out some issues with what's being presented for staff recommendation. Given the conversation we had before about vacancies and being equal and June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page22 waiting, I think these recommendations are out of line. Reclassifying the existing accounting analysi- we should wait for the wage-and-comp study to do that. We should not be changing posiiions or offering more moneyi we should wait until the wage-and-comp study to be fair urros the board. If you start doing it for one, then you should do it for all. Second, this says there's an estimated $204,000 for homeless outreach. I think that should be saved and budgeted for what may come, either for the 3o/o or whatever you decide, or for the wage-and-comp study.
You should look at what you're budgeting so that when the study is completed, you have funding to fund those positions. Let's make sure we protect our folks so they don't leave the city. Thank you very much.
Joe Smith: Good evening, Madam Mayor and Council. First, excuse me if I'm not remembering correctly, but I recall someone on the dais asked for a percentage cost analysis, so tonight I was looking forward to seeing that analysis to balance against some of these positions you're bringing forward. I don't know if that was part of the wage-and-comp study or a ,..o-*".rdation that was supposed to happen this evening. I would also recommend a pause' because I think a lot of that is very relevant to some of the positions being recommended and what could potentially go to some of our existing people. I think that was something I was looking forward to receiving tonight to inform some of what has been presented' Written Public Comment was submitted byTruth
Mayor Snow closed the public comment period.
Mayor Snow: Now we'11 go into deliberations. I'll start. Going back to the Assistant CiIy Manager and the Senior Management Analyst
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there are two proposals: a Senior Financial
Management Analyst, and a more general Senior Management Analyst position, which is ".rrt"ntly
vacant. This is an opportunity to fill a need the city has had for quite some time. It's been over a decade since we've had an Assistant City Manager, and without one there's no clear number two. Our last City Manager went four years without taking a vacation, and when she left there was no clear path to who was next in line. That uncertainty hurts morale and retention and creates conflict. Many of the Senior Management Analyst duties could be handled by an Assistant City Manager, who would have additional authority, and it would address some of the audit issues that were raised. I note the figures here are at the very top end of the salary range, so a new hire would most likely come in at the bottom. There's only about $3,000 between the high end of the Senior Management Analyst range and the low end of the Assistant City Manager range,so that $97,000 price tag wouldn't be something we'd see immediately. I would move that we include the Assistant City Manager position and not fill the current Senior Management Analyst position. As for the other staff recommendations, I do think we need an additional step in Finance, but if we're going to wait on the wage-and-classification study, this would be an appropriate point to wait. I agreewe wait on the Community Development Director, but I don't think we jusi need the study
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we need someone to survey the city as a whole to tell us where our pressure points are, from code enforcement to permitting. We don't have enough money to fill everything, so I think we need to study these things before creating and filling new positions.
I'll hear from other Council members. Councilmember Smith.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page23 Councilmember Smith: Thank you. On ltem2,I have a concern with earmarking those funds to homeless outreach. The grant we're currently using is an $8.4 million grant, and $204,000 seems orders of magnitude less than what we'd need to be effective. I'd be hesitant to move it into homeless outreach because I don't know we can be effective with that amount. What I'd like is for the $204,500 to remain as a resource for staffing until we know what staffing needs to be. I support having the Community Development Director
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it would be incredibly valuable given
our Downtown Specific Plan and permitting
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but having the information is key' We make
better choices when we have more information. I don't have issues with item one, the Finance progression, though I wouldn't change the analyst position to Assistant City Manager at this point. If the consensus is to wait for the study, then maybe we leave the changes for the study, tut in general I'm supportive of the first recommendation, not so supportive of the Assistant City Manag-er versus the analyst, and I'd like to see the $204,500 maintained for core staffing needs.
Mayor Snow: One of my concerns is that we have avacancy, so it's different from the other positions. Once we decide to filI that position, it will be very difficult to shift in the future, t""u.rr" we don't have enough money to fund both. So we're at a crossroads on whether to have an Assistant City Manager or a Senior Management Analyst, and we don't have the luxury to wait on that issue. Councilmember Altamirano.
Councilmember Altamirano: Thank you. I want to say thank you to staff, Interim City Manager Winney and Darlene, and Mr. Murguia
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you guys have been doing amazingwork'
Mr. Winney and I spoke, and he shared that he has plans to create positions so our employees can promote within, so I would support the $29,500 to reclassifu the existing accounting analyst to a Senior Management Analyst. At this point I think it's a good idea to move forward with filling the vacant position, and if possible with the intention to train that individual to become Assistant City Manager once we have our perrnanent City Manager. We have great pressure points, and one is code enforcement. We have a lot of codes that don't get enforced -
our RV
Lrdinance is very outdated, people park in the post office area, we have a non-parking ordinance we don't enforce. The Sheriffls Department position in charge of enforcement is vacant right now. people run red lights, speed, litter, and park everywhere because nobody enforces anything.
I remember in the early 2000s I would get letters telling me to cut my grass. We need to start enforcing our current ordinances. I want to see change. We currently have about $832,000 left in Measure T funds, and I would like to see $232,000 of that money go to homeless outreach, because we can't expect people to count on services and then not match them with services. That is it for now. Thank you.
Mayor Snow: Councilmember Mendoza.
Councilmember Mendoza: Our current city budget is very lean. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but with our current budget, did we take money out of our reserves? Interim City Manager Winney: No, we did not withdraw from reserves for the new fiscal year budget. wtrat we did do is ask all the departments to submit their budgets for consideration, and in oider to balance the budget we did have to ask for cuts from those departments based on what they submitted.
Iune 16,2026 Regul ar City Council Meeting - Minutes Page24 Councilmember Mendoza: Thank you. So I have not been in support of adding the Community Development Director position at this time, so I haven't changed my mind there. But I have been in favoi of adding code enforcement. There is an unfilled half-time code enforcement position that has been filled before, with the other half-time in sanitation or public works inspection, and it's already on our salary plan and classification. I think if we were to have an Assistant City Manager, thut p.tron should be hired by our permanent City Manager, not by an interim City Manager. In thi meantime, I believe we are sorely missing the Senior Management Analyst, so I'm really tom on this. We need to get someone in that position helping out in the City Manager;s office as soon as possible. As far as earmarking funds, I really don't want to decide right now without u.ry pr.r.ntation of what would be done with that money. We do need to look ut *hut we're going to do when the homelessness grant runs out, because the problem is not going away. So I would like more code enforcement, the position is already there, the reasoning Uefrina rec-lassifying an accounting analyst is sound and not a huge amount of money, and I'm torn on the Assistant City Manager versus filling the existing Senior Management Analyst position.
Interim City Manager Winney: Just to clarify one thing have a full-time Code Enforcement Officer slash water quality inspector; that's the full-time position. In addition, we have a Code Enforcement part-time officer position, which is not filled. He's authorized to do those inspections but does not spend half his time on them; the title allows for flexibility, but it's not tied to how the time is spent.
Mayor Pro Tem Heredia: Great, thoughtful discussion. I can appreciate everybody's opinions.
I discussed with City Manager Winney the online permitting being explored currently, and for that reason I'm not in favor of the Community Development Director at this time -
I'd like to
analyzethat software. I definitely am in favor of code enforcement. I looked at the staff packet, and
-it
has a low end for the Code Enforcement Officer with salary and benefits at $72,000; I believe that's what we would hire somebody for, and I'm in support of that. Accountability is what's lacking in this town
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when we see dilapidated cars parked on streets for months at a time, nobodyiemoves them. As far as the analyst reclassification, I am in support of that and of making a ladder for people to move up. When it comes to the homeless funds, I would not be in rrrpport of allocating funds to that at this time. I know we already tentatively earmarked $ZOO,OOO of the ARPA interest, so I'd rather stick to that and save the other funds for our wageand-comp study, because more than likely we're going to want to give some raises, including for Public Works. I would be inclined to do a Senior Management Analyst over the Assistant City Manager at this time, because I believe hiring that position should be the job of the permanent City Manager. In the meantime, we can hire the position already available online for the Senior Management Analyst and get going'
Mayor Snow: Can I get staff to give us a better timeline for the wage-and-hour compensation study and what stage we're at right now?
Interim City Manager Winney: Yes, we should be completing that study by October. We've just conducteA interviews with the consulting firms, a committee has reviewed the proposals, and we'll be bringing a contract to the City Council probably second meeting next month. They would start piobably early August, do market research comparing our positions to other cities in lune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Paee25 the region, study how each position is classified and currently executed, and true up differences between the job description and how the position is filled. Yes, I believe meeting with individual staff is part of the scope.
Mayor Snow: There's a vacant Assistant City Manager position and a vacant Senior Management Analyst position. We're trying to figure out where to place those vacancies. I don't -"unio step on the interim City Manager's hiring decisions, but whether to fill a vacancy and where to allocate the budget funding does come from our policy consideration. Is there a legal impediment to appointing an interim or contract person in the Senior Management Analyst spot? City Attorney Steinke: There's no legal impediment to having an interim Senior Management Analyst. Typically, if you have an interim, you do a separate contract that's negotiated separately. It's a mid-level position, so it doesn't typically happen that way, but you can create a contract position; it also has to be budgeted.
Interim City Manager Winney: I'm trying to speak to the needs of the otganization. Since it is a position within my office, it's really important that we get a permanent person in that role so we can invest time and money training that person. We have an opportunity to fiIl an existing position, currently budgeted, which I desperately need. So even if I'm not hired as the permanent city Manager, you'd have somebody in that position to help bridge that gap.
Mayor Snow: I get that we need to fill this, but it still leaves the city without a number two, which goes from number one to number four with no clear path. I'm in support of an interim for this until we have a perrnanent City Manager, but if we're going to do an interim, I would suggest an interim Assistant City Managef, so we honor that we need a number two. Otherwise, five years from now we don't have what we need in place and don't have the funding to accomplish it.
City Attorney Steinke: Having gone through the process of recruitment for the City Manager's position, that same process would have to be implemented for a Senior Management Analyst, which is a lower-level position
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so you're investing time and onergy in that recruitment and then negoti ating anindependent contract. It's a little unusual; not impossible, but unusual' Councilmember Altamirano: Is it possible to hire a Senior Analyst with the intention of that person becoming an Assistant City Manager
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sticking to the fact that it's already budgeted,
vacant, and needed? I believe there's value in stability and minimizing turnover' I don't want to see an interim Senior Analyst, and I'm not interested in an interim Assistant City Manager either.
If we can hire that Senior Analyst with the goal to transition her to that number-two position, to me that's the ideal scenario.
Interim City Manager Winney: Yes, we can always help train that individual to step up into other positions within the organization; of course it would be a competitive process if that time came. That is always the goal
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to promote within as positions become available.
Mayor Snow: Going back in time, the Senior Management Analyst is a relatively new position, niled the last two y"urr, and the original intention was to do just that, but it never realized, and I June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Paee26 think that is part of why we had the exit and conflict we had. I hear what you're saying about instability, but f thint ihut *ur what was originally intended and didn't gettealized.
Councilmember Smith.
Councilmember Smith: One question
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the part-time Code Enforcement Officer, would that
also take some burden off Community Development staff, because they do a bit of code enforcement on their own? My thought on a policy level is to find ways to reduce pressure on staff; we have them working lI0% across the board, and we should have them working 100% and properly staffed and resourced. I'm happy we're discussing policy goals, but I do think *",* approaching the realm of micromanigement, and I don't want to be there. We are a charter city, and the City Manager generally does the employment for the city, so this is not something we normally do. that ruid, I'd stand with my original comments supporting staffls ,""o**"ndation, and outside of allocating funds to homelessness outreach, I'd like to see that used for staffing purposes or left unallocated'
Councilmember Mendoza: I just wanted to clarify
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the City of Lemon Grove has never had
an Assistant City Manager. When Lydia was our City Manager, we felt it was important to have someone in that numbeitwo position, and our Public Works Director took on the title of Assistant City Manager while still primarily being Public Works Director, but he left before she did. So there's n",r", uny guarantee, whether it's an Assistant City Manager or a Senior Management Analyst, tfraltne person will still be around to move up. When I first came on with the planning Commission, we had a community development director, a public works director, a finance director, a community services director, and an engineering department, and we don't have a lot of those things anymore. We've cut our city staff drastically over the last22 years and are slowly starting to UuitO tirat back up. I hear what the Mayor is saying -
we need to study
where the needs are and consult with our staff. I can support a part-time Code Enforcement Officer, replacing or filling the Senior Management Analyst, and reclassiffing the accounting analyst. I'm going to turn this into a motion.
Councilmember Mendoza: I move that, in our Salary Plan and Classification Summary in our budget, we fill the half-time code enforcement position that's already there; that we fillthe Seni,or Management Analyst position that is akeady there; that we reclassifu the existing accounting analyst to a Senior Management Analyst within the Finance Department; that we eliminate the Community Development Director; and that we hold off on budgeting any remaining funds, with staff to return at alater date with additional information on homeless services recommendations and costs. My motion includes evaluating the outcomes of the classification and compensation study this fall and determining if additional staffing adjustments are recommended andiheir cumulative budgetary impacts, and I move that we adopt a resolution approving the revised City of Lemon Grove S alary Planand Classification Summary for Fiscal Year 2026-27.
Mayor pro Tem Heredia: Thank you. Councilmember Mendoza summed it up great. I am in support of the Code Enforcement Officer, in favor of hiring the Senior Management Analyst as atreaOy posted online, and not in support of the Community Development Director, the Assistant City Manager, or the homeless funding. I'll second the motion' June 16,2026 Council - Minutes 27
A motion was made by Councilmember Mendoza and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Heredia.
Councilmember Altamirano: I would like to make a substitute motion -
everything they said,
with the exception of making it a full-time Code Enforcement officer at the lower end of the salary instead of a part-time position'
City Attorney Steinke: So make the code enforcement position part of the current motion a fulltiml position as opposed to part-time, and that's a substitute motion. councilmember Altamirano: correct. Everything else is correct.
Mayor Snow: A substitute motion is on the floor. Is there a second? Mayor pro Tem Heredia: I prefer the full-time, so I will second the motion. Thank you.
Interim City Manager Winney: Just to clariff, we can't state where exactly in the range for the full-time porition we-would hire; that would be determined at the time of hiring the candidate.
We would just ask for Council approval for authority at the full range.
Councilmember Smith: A clarification
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fuIl-time versus part-time: are we modifuing the
existing part-time position to be full-time, or creating a new position? Interim Finance Director Morrow-Truver: Currently the half-time position is in this schedule, but we don't have a half-time position budgeted, so either way it's an additional position. There is a Code Enforcement Officei part-time position in this schedule that you're allowed to have, and there is a full+ime Code Enforcemeni with water quality, which is filled. So you could add a Code Enforcement Officer full-time with benefits, or do the part-time code enforcement without benefits, so there is a difference in cost, more than just doubling, because of benefits once you do a full-time person.
Councilmember Smith: Okay, understood.
Mayor Snow: Before we take the vote
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this is part of my concern. We've been talking about
enforcement, but you can have all the code enforcement you want and somebody writing tickets, but if you don,t have anybody collecting, what's it all for? We do not have a collection officer at all, so we're not collecting revenues from these tickets. This is why I'm saying we should maybe invest this extra $204,000 in a study to analyzewhere we need the positions the most. I would support a half-time code enforcement person and also a half-time collection person' Interim City Manager Winney: Just a point of clarification -
we would need to add an
additional position to- move forward with collections efforts, or a separate contract we could bring to Council at alater date to contract out with a third pafty.
Mayor Snow: That sounds very expensive, and if we have the opportunity to bring staff in and do ii, I think we've been outsourcing a lot of things we can do internally.
June 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page 28 Councilmember Mendoza: That's because I had to do that job for a couple of years. Could we, as part of my motion which I think is included in Councilmember Altamirano's motion, hold off on earmarking remaining funds until staff comes back with additional information, and then decide whether to budget those funds for some collection mechanism? I would like a full report on that. We need to figure out how that all works
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not right now
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but get some information.
City Attorney Steinke: There was a primary motion, and a substitute motion was made. The substitute motion is to include a fuIl-time Code Enforcement Officer; fill the Senior Management Analyst position already budgeted; reclassiff the existing accounting analyst to the Senior Management Analyst; .tl.ni*t" the Community Development Director consideration at this time; f,old off on budgeting remaining funds until we have a better plan moving forward; evaluate the outcom" of tn" classification and compensation study to evaluate staffing needs once complete; and adopt the resolution approving the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Salary Plan and Classification Summary as amended. That's the substitute motion as made by Councilmember Altamirano and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Heredia.
Mayor Snow: Just for clarification, so we're adopting the resolution as amended. Let's do a roll call vote, because I think there may be alternative votes on this one. We'Il start with Councilmember Smith. This is in favor of the substitute motion.
The Executive Assistant Dershem called the roll on the substitute motion.
Action: Moved by Councilmember Altamirano, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Heredia (substitute motion), to: (1) authoizeand fill a full-time Code Enforcement Officer position, with hiring authoriiy at the full salary range; (2) fill the currently vacant and budgeted Senior Management Analyst position; (3) reclassifu one existing Accounting Analyst to a Senior Management Analyst within the Finance Department; (4) eliminate the Community Development Director position from consideration at this time; (5) hold off on budgeting the remaining funds, with staff to return with additional information, including homeless services recommendations and costs; (6) evaluate the outcomes of the classification and compensation study in the fall to determine aaOitio.rut staffing adjustments and their cumulative budgetary impacts; and (7) adopt Resolution No. 2026-4195 approving the revised Fiscal Year 2026-27 City of Lemon Grove Salary Plan and Classification Summary, as amended'
The motion passed by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Smith, Altamirano, Mendoza, Heredia
NOES: Snow
ABSENT: None
Mayor Snow: Motion passes, four to one.
Citv Council Reports on Meetines Attended at the ElKpgnse of the Citv lock.Wetrytoconc1udethesemeetingsby8:30p.m.,soI
.n"ou.ug" Council members to submit their meeting reports to Joel, and we will push the Council member meeting reports off to the next meeting. We do have a request from Councilmember Mendozato report on one item, so I'll give her time to do that.
Iune 16,2026 Regular City Council Meeting - Minutes Page29 Councilmember Mendoza: I just wanted to report, if you haven't read it in the newspaper already, that I've been attending a lot of MTS meetings and SANDAG Transportation Committee meetings. In April, ih. iUfS board voted in favor of recommending to the SANDAG Transportation Committee that they allow MTS and NCTD to raise fares; most fares have not been raised in over 10 years, and MTS and NCTD are facing tremendous financial pressures. I was one of the people who voted in favor of the recommendation. The Transportation Committee will not decide until July whether to follow the recommendation, and the vote will be taken on my birthday
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what a iay thatwill be. In the meantime, MTS met to approve our budget for next year, and several board members who were not at the previous meeting decided they could not approve the MTS budget if it included a fare increase, so we came back last week for a ,p."iui meeting. The compromise was that if the SANDAG Transportation Committee approves the fare increase, MTS
-exclusive
of NCTD
-
is going to freeze the increase for low-income
riders, and possibl y freeze it forever, so the increase will not apply to certain low-income riders, particularly seniori and disabled riders, some of whom are already covered by a lower fare. I wanted to give you all an update because this is really important, not just for MTS in general but also for -uny of our residents who are lower income and rely heavily on public transportation' Thank you for letting me report that.
Councilmember Smith: I'll just note I was there as well, as an alternate for Councilmember Mendoza.
Mayor Snow: Thank you so much. I also wanted to highlight that we have the Juneteenth flag raising coming up on june 18 at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at3232 Main Street. We will have luest speakers from the community, raise the flag, and sing the Black National Anthem.
There is an incredible event planned by our Lemon Grove Farmers Market group -
singers,
spoken word, and Dr. Wanen giving highlights of what Juneteenth means, its origins, and how it impacts our lives today. Big shout-out to Joyce Moore for putting together an incredible event.
Wi also have the prid; flag raising coming up later, the 250th celebration of the United States on July 3, and Concerts in the Park and Movies in the Park coming up. I'll turn it over to the City Manager for additional details.
Citv Manager's RePort
I"t..it" Ctty Vfan-ger Winney: Thank you, Mayor. On July 3, we're going to be celebrating America's 250thu*iu"rrury. The event will be held at TreganzaPark from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Our staff has been hard at work planning this event, so please come out and celebrate -
ie're going to have food vendo.r und live music, and a movie that evening, which I believe is The S;dlo1. In addition, Concerts in the Park starts on the 25th with the Heroes band, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., and we have a whole series posted on social media and the city's website for the additional concerts this summer. Come on out and join us and celebrate.
Mayor Snow: We're looking atyou, Brenda. All right, we do not have closed session for this evening, so we will now adjourn the meeting.
Closed Session
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None
Adiournment
June I 6 2026 City
Mayor Snow: The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 7,2026, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is now adjourned.
Mayor Snow adjoumed the meeting at approximately 9:05 p'm C,Ve{ l*'
1+^€) r\
Joel
City Grove
Dershem, et4 .e z-u\t'r.e- Pablo \s2i S