7:00 P.M. Teleconference via Zoom, closed to the public
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Sandoval called the City Council Meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Councilmember Nolte led the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
Present via Zoom: Mayor Tim Sandoval
Councilmember John Nolte
Councilmember Victor Preciado
Councilmember Nora Garcia
Councilmember Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole
Absent: Councilmember Steve Lustro
Vice Mayor Robert Torres
STAFF PRESENT via Zoom
Sonia Carvalho, City Attorney
Rosalia Butler, City Clerk
John DePolis, IT Director
James Makshanoff, City Manager
Kirk Pelser, Deputy City Manager
505 S. Garey Ave
Pomona, CA 91766 City of Pomona
Special Meeting Minutes
City Council / Housing Authority / Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency
Mayor Tim Sandoval
Councilmember John Nolte
Councilmember Victor Preciado
Councilmember Mayor Nora Garcia
Councilmember Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole
Councilmember Steve Lustro
Vice Mayor Robert S. Torres
VISION STATEMENT
Pomona will be recognized as a vibrant, safe, beautiful community that is a fun and exciting destination and the home of arts and artists, students and scholars, business and industry. 7:00 PM Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Teleconference via Zoom City Council / Housing Authority / Special Meeting Minutes March 30, 2022 Successor Agency to the
Redevelopment Agency
City of Pomona Page 2
Mark Gluba, Deputy City Manager
Mike Ellis, Police Chief
Linda Matthews, Human Resources Director
Rene Guerrero, Public Works Director
Andrew Mowbray, Finance Director
Aleli Burgos, Deputy Finance Director
Shar Perez, Revenue Operations Manager
Joan Kingston, Budget Officer
Anita Gutierrez, Development Services Director
Chris Diggs, Water Resources Director
Benita DeFrank, Neighborhood Services Director
Daniel Lucinian, IT Systems Technician
Antonietta Schulz, contracted by the City, provided translation services via Zoom.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Public Participation - In response to the global COVID -19 pandemic and in accordance with City Council Resolution No. 2022-56 adopted March 21, 2022 regarding the Brown Act and California State Assembly Bill 361 extending the rules regarding virtual meetings and guidance from the California Department of Public Health on gatherings, please note that comments for Discussion Item 1 on the agenda were accepted by email and also were accepted live during the meeting via the chat feature on Zoom or voice . Comments received electronically via email were read into the record by the City Clerk.
DISCUSSION
1. Fiscal Year 2022-23 General Fund Preview
It is recommended that the City Council take the following actions:
1) A Preview of the Preliminary FY 2022 -23 General Fund Budget is presented to the Mayor and City Council to receive feedback for the FY 2022-23 General Fund Budget;
2) Residents and Businesses are encouraged to provide feedback on the FY 2022-23 General Fund budget during public comment; and
3) Mayor and City Council receive and file a recommendation from the Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) regarding the FY 2022 -23 General Fund Budget as it relates to the COC responsibilities to provide written reports as part of their role monitoring the City of Pomona’s Measure PG sales tax revenue.
Andrew Mowbray, Finance Director, gave the staff presentation. Citizens Oversight Committee Chair Leticia Casillas -Sanchez provided recommendations from their advisory committee as per one of their duties in an advisory capacity to the council.
City Council / Housing Authority / Special Meeting Minutes March 30, 2022 Successor Agency to the
Redevelopment Agency
City of Pomona Page 3
** PLEASE SEE ATTACHMENT FOR ONE (1) EMAIL COMMENT READ DURING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
Live comments were as follows:
Don Martens spoke on the importance of inspections to make sure rental homes are kept in livable condition so he supports the line item for increased City inspections.
Richard Bunce advocated for ARP funding for a proposed project called Building a Well Being Econom y sponsored by the Latino/Latina Roundtable as this kind of program is needed for those in Pomona hardest hit by the pandemic. Pomona has the chance to make real change with the opportunities that can be provided by the ARP funding.
Jeremy Fackenthal, Phillip Clayton, Lina Mira and Angela Sanbrano also supported ARP funding to help the program Building a Well Being Economy.
Councilmembers asked questions and made comments regarding this item.
The Mayor proposed for consideration that 10 million over a f ive year period from the City’s reserves be allocated to youth programs based in the neighborhood services and library divisions of the City. He also proposed for consideration that the fund balance reserve be raised from 17% to 20-22%.
This item was for discussion only so no action was taken.
ADJOURNMENT
The City Council Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m. on March 30, 2022.
Respectfully submitted, ATTEST:
ROSALIA A. BUTLER, MMC TIM SANDOVAL
City Clerk/Secretary of the Pomona Mayor/Chair of the Pomona Housing Authority/Successor Agency to the Housing Authority/Successor Agency to the Redevelopment Agency Redevelopment Agency
MARCH 30, 2022 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
PUBLIC COMMENTS
DISCUSSION CALENDAR ITEM NO. 1 (Fiscal Year 2022-23 General Fund Preview)
LIDIA MANZANARES – My name is Lidia Manzanares and I am a Pomona resident. My family and I reside in D4. I am the Vice -Chair of the Community Life Commission, Co - Chair of the HEAL group in Pomona’s Promise and a Board Member of the Latino Latina Roundtable of the Pomona and San Gabriel Valley. I menti on my associations only to show that I deeply care about this city and community. My only aspiration is to collaborate with others to make this community and city – better, stronger, safer and prosperous for all of our residents.
I am here to advocate fo r ARP funding for LRTs “Building a Wellbeing Economy” pilot program. The goal is to launch a worker co-op to provide good jobs for Pomona residents.
We know that a good job — not just a minimum wage job —but rather a good job that provides a living wage an d a good quality of life can change an individual, a family and an entire community.
There are many of examples of worker co-ops succeeding in other cities—- the Evergreen Co-op in Cleveland, Ohio and the Mondragon Corporation in Spain to name a few. The City of New York Department of Small Business Services launched the Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative which helped their residents start worker co-ops or transition existing businesses into worker co -ops. They define the importance of the initiative as “worker cooperatives give New Yorkers the opportunity to co -own a business, creating sustainable and dignified jobs while developing community wealth - particularly for people who lack access to traditional business ownership.”
The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the many existing inequities in our communities and it also showed that worker co-ops are better built to ride out the pandemics and economic downturns. They were able to more easily pivot to meet the needs of their communities and workforce. While worker co-ops are not immune to having to make tough decisions and the general ups and downs of the economy –-they make decisions collectively, influencing how the impact is shared across their workforce.
I hope that Pomona can join the growing number of cities that have supported workers to create worker co -ops and in the process become an example of a successful initiative that helped not only re-shape the lives of Pomona residents but improved the livability of the city as a whole.
We see it everyday in the cities that surround us —- Claremont, Diamond Bar, La Verne —-- all cities whose residents have had the opportunity to build personal and community wealth by having access to a good education, good jobs and generational wealth. Pomona deserves this. Thank you for your consideration.
Note: Comments are incorporated into meeting minutes as submitted and received by the City Clerk’s Office.