CITY OF LOS BANOS
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 2, 2023
ACTION MINUTES – These minutes are prepared to depict action taken for agenda items presented to the City Council. For detail of this meeting refer to the electronic media (CD and/or audio) kept as a permanent record.
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Llanez called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Police Chief Brizzee led the pledge of allegiance.
ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Douglas Begonia, Jr., Brett Jones, Kenneth Lambert, Deborah Lewis, Mayor Paul Llanez; ABSENT: None.
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Manager Pinheiro, City Attorney Vaughn, Police Chief Brizzee, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, City Treasurer Lawrence, Fire Chief Tualla, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Interim Finance Director Kuhn, Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present.
PRESENTATIONS: PROCLAMATION – RECOGNIZING THE RETIREMENT OF CITY OF LOS BANOS POLICE SERVICES MANAGER BRENDA GEARY; CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE 2023 – KIM TOMAS, FINANCE MANAGER. Mayor Llanez presented the proclamation and certificate, for which Kim Tomas was in attendance to accept.
PUBLIC FORUM: MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL
MEMBERS ON ANY ITEM OF PUBLIC INTEREST THAT IS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE CITY; INCLUDES AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS. SPEAKERS ARE LIMITED TO A FIVE (5) MINUTE PRESENTATION. DETAILED GUIDELINES ARE POSTED ON THE COUNCIL CHAMBER INFORMATIONAL TABLE. Mayor Llanez opened the public forum and asked those at the meeting if they would like to speak: KATHY BALLARD, asked if there might already be a meeting in the works for Measure H and spoke regarding the requirement of meetings, because as of tonight I have not been notified of any planned meetings; UNNAMED PERSON, spoke regarding her reasoning for coming forward to speak regarding the animal shelter, feels that there needs to be a humane way to cure the overpopulation of animals which is spay and neutering, special design services renovation project doesn’t include a spay and neuter area and feels that is a big oversight, would request that the Mayor and Council Members hold a Town Hall meeting so that the people can hear and give input as to how the animal shelter is improved; CAMI AVELAR was disappointed that the Town Hall meeting was not advertised on the city’s website, she spoke to how she lives near a homeless encampment and her concerns with all the noise and activity that is going on, the repeated calls to Los Banos Police Department dispatch to have someone come out and address the situation, she’s lived here for 22 years and this is the first time she has had to call the LBPD, how do I get an adequate response and how do I keep continuing with this, the RadCard staff report does not address all the questions asked and is not transparent, spoke to the design standards committee; UNNAMED PERSON, stated that she read online that a measure was presented in September by Chief Brizzee and how everyone was dispersed in December from the trailer home park, not a good plan, watched the Town Hall Meeting because she wasn’t able to make it, feels that the City needs to be more transparent as to what is happening with the homeless situation, you can only put things off for so long, health risks, aren’t you tired of the same faces with the same concerns with the same questions; RHONDA LOWE, Los Banos, real happy to get back into workshops for people wanting to start small businesses, next August 12, 2023 at the Community Center and thanked Joe Heim for the accommodations and the City for partnering and hopes that more people will show up next time; Mr. Santos, with Congressman Duarte, enjoyed the National Night Out here in Los Banos and it was a really nice event, he was glad to attend the joint Chamber Mixer held recently, spoke regarding veteran benefits for those who served in combat, bipartisan coalition for the GATES Act, just today provisional agreement with Madera Hospital speaking to the Rural Hospital Technical Services Act, Merced County Town Hall Meeting on august 29, 2023 at 7:00 pm in Atwater; UNNAMED PERSON spoke on behalf of Graciano Rubio who was at the last City Council Meeting and read a letter into the record, noting that he agrees with his comments, how he received funds as he owns a gym in town, The Compound, spoke to what he experienced during covid and having to shut down, his homeless concerns at his business, thankful for his grant but would like to see some more fairness and clarity; UNNAMED PERSON, spoke regaining transparency, no public input with agenda items, like the budget was adopted on the same day presented was the same day it was passed, the Town Hall meeting was a way good step, it was shame to have people come and to be turned away and that shouldn’t happen, how people are claiming to be homeless to use that as a reason to commit crimes and how crimes are becoming brazen, we need to apply laws equally, we have to do more and it can be done. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed.
CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Jones to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #239964 - #240152 in the Amount of $2,167,226.24; Fourth Quarter Investment Report for the 2022/2023 Fiscal Year; City Council Resolution No. 6673 – Agreeing to the Cost Share for the SB244 Technical Analysis Portion of the Multi-Jurisdictional Housing Element; City Council Resolution No. 6674 – Rejecting All Bids for the Construction of the Downtown Gateway Sign; City Council Resolution No. 6675 – Authorizing the City Manager to Sign the Memorandum of Understanding for Emergency Medical Services between the City of Los Banos and the Los Banos Unified School District through June 30, 2024. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present.
Council Member Lambert left his seat at the dais and the Council Chambers, with Mayor Llanez noting that he was a recipient of ARPA Funds (the next item on the agenda).
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) – RAD CARD AND SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM UPDATE. Interim Finance Director presented the staff report.
Council Member Lewis spoke to the history of the RADcard program, inquired as to how much money was returned and was that money used for grants for which Interim Finance Director Kuhn explained that the funds were reprogramed and staff is working through the last few applications. Council Member Lewis stated that once we set up the funds for RADcard program we didn’t even see a close out report on that and she doesn’t know what is going out to who and how much, and now we have to wait even longer on a finalized report, and to our community and herself that it is a bit confusing and doesn’t seem to be an accountability. She further asked how much money has been dispersed and when will the program be wrapped up for which Interim Finance Director Kuhn responded that staff is giving the public time to apply and comply with the grant funding.
Council Member Lewis stated that there are concerns from the public about transparency and she feels we need to be more open about it. Council Member Jones inquired as to if there are any staff administrative cost associated with this for which Interim Finance director Kuhn responded no. Mayor Llanez feels that it is premature to ask for a comprehensive report and he is all for being open and transparent. Community & Economic Development Director Sousa Elms pointed out why funds were given out.
Informational item only, no action taken.
Council Member Lambert returned to the Council Chambers and his seat at the dais.
CONSIDERATION OF CREATING AN IMPROVEMENT STANDARDS AND
SPECIFICATIONS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE & A COMMUNITY DESIGN STANDARDS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6676 – CREATING AN IMPROVEMENT STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE; CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NO. 6677 –
CREATING A COMMUNITY DESIGN STANDARDS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms presented the staff report.
Motion by Jones, seconded by Begonia to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6676 – Creating an Improvement Standards and Specifications Technical Advisory Committee.
The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present.
Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6677 – Creating a Community Design Standards Technical Advisory Committee. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present.
ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (No Report).
CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro gave a big thank you to Chief Brizzee and Police Sergeant Mendez for the National Night Out event last night and thanked all the people who made donations and thanked all the folks for attending and those who put it together.
REPORT/UPDATE ON MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (MCAG), PENINSULA CLEAN ENERGY (PCE), MEASURE V COMMITTEE, AND SAN
JOAQUIN VALLEY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT (SJVAPCD), AND LOS
BANOS DOWNTOWN PROPERTY & BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (LBDPBID). Mayor Llanez stated that The Bus in no fares all summer and encouraged all to use and the he will be attending the PCE meeting that is coming up.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS
BRETT JONES: Thanked staff for all their hard work on National Night Out was probably the busiest ones yet.
DEBORAH LEWIS: Thanked our Police Chief, Commanders, Sergeant, Officers, Department Heads that participated in National Night Out, how she recently had a chance to meet the State Parks & Recreation Officer and his dog a recent event, how as a Council Member and a legislature for our City she has the right to ask for clarification on things going on the City, I am here to get questions answered and not here to debate with our staff, she is not trying to cause dissention.
KENNETH LAMBERT: Stated how National Night Out was definitely cooler last night, great job and planned out well, appreciate all the work done by staff.
DOUGLAS BEGONIA, JR.: Appreciate all the hard work put into National Night Out, happy to see the improvements being done on B Street and all the other streets throughout the City.
PAUL LLANEZ: Spoke to how San Luis Street is being redone and how fantastic that we are getting things done, he attended National Night Out and it was a great job, thank you to everybody that came out to the Town Hall event, how he makes himself available to talk, he stuck around after the Town Hall meeting to talk, make note of how Los Banos Police enforces laws, but it’s the State of California that makes them, thanked all our staff for the great work they do.
CLOSED SESSION – PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION, TITLE:
CITY ATTORNEY, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957. No reportable action.
ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert, the meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present.
APPROVED:
/s/ Paul Llanez_____________
Paul Llanez, Mayor
ATTEST:
/s/ Lucille L. Mallonee_________
Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk