Minutes
Santee City Council
council Chamber - Building :
10601 Magnolia Avenue
Santee, California
-ebruarv 11, 2026
This Regular Meeting of the Santee City Council was called to order by Mayor John W.
Minto at 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL: Present: Mayor John W. Minto, Vice Mayor Ronn Hall, and Councilmembers Laura Koval, Rob McNelis, and Dustin Trotter Officers present: City Manager Wendy Kaserman, City Attorney Shawn Hagerty, and City Clerk James Jeffries
INVOCATION was given by Chaplain George Helewa, Santee Fire Department.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Aldo Hernadez, San Diego County Sheriff Office PRESENTATION: San Diego County Library, Santee Branch
Liz Vagani, Santee Library Branch Manager, provided a PowerPoint presentation and responded to Council questions.
RECOGNITION: Sheriff Captain Aldo Hernandez
Mayor Minto presented the Certificate to Aldo Hernandez and along with the City Council thanked him for his service to Santee.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
(1) Approval of Reading by Title Only and Waiver of Reading in Full of Ordinances and Resolutions on the Agenda. (City Clerk - Jeffries) (2) Approval of Payment of Demands as Presented. (Finance - Jennings) (3) Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the Acceptance and the Appropriation of Grant Funds Received from San Diego Art Matters' Fiscal Agent Mission Edge San Diego to Support an Arts & Culture Capacity-Building Project as Part of the Local Arts Agency Learning Network. (Community Services - Chavez) (Reso 014-2026)
(4) Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the First Amendment to the Agreement with West Coast Arborists Incorporated for Urban Forestry Management Services. (Community Services - Chavez) (Reso 015-2026)
Santee City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of February 11, 2026 (5) Adoption of a Resolution Authorizing the Renewal of 237 Microsoft Office 365 Licenses Through the First Amendment to the Midwestern Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Master Cooperative Purchasing Agreement #04152022. (City Manager - Kaserman) (Reso 016-2026) (6) Adoption of a Resolution Accepting the Citywide Slurry Seal and Roadway Maintenance Program 2025 (CIP 2025-02) Project as Complete and Finding the Action is Not a Project Subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). (Engineering - Schmitz) (Reso 017- 2026)
(7) 2025 Holiday Closure Recap Report. (City Manager - Kaserman) Action: Councilmember McNelis moved approval of the Consent Calendar.
Vice Mayor Hall seconded the motion, which carried by the following vote: Mayor Minto:
Aye; Vice Mayor Hall: Aye; and Councilmembers Koval: Aye; McNelis: Aye; and Trotter:
Aye. Ayes: 5. Noes: O.
NON-AGENDA PUBLIC COMMENT (15 minutes):
(A) Purita Javier spoke about concerns related to health impacts due to ceramic manufacturing and the need for regulating those businesses. (B) Cesar B. Javier spoke about lack of action from other agencies related to toxic gases from ceramic manufacturing.
(C) Shena Richardson provided a handout and expressed concerns about private cameras and requested the City explore an Ordinance for regulation. (D) Charlene Julian expressed concerns about private cameras and requested the City explore an Ordinance for regulation.
PUBLIC HEARING:
(8) Public Hearing to Review Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Program Performance and Identify Community Development Needs for the 2026 Program Year Consistent with the Five-Year Consolidated Plan and Finding the Action is Not a Project Subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"). (Planning and Building - Sawa)
The Public Hearing was opened at 7:12 p.m. Brittaney Gohres, Senior Management Analyst, provided a PowerPoint presentation and responded to Council questions.
Public Speakers:
• Rebecca Rader, Voices for Children
Tonya V. Hendrix, Santee Santas
Santee City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of February 11, 2026 Andrea Ausland, ElderHelp of San Diego
Tim Ray, Meals on Wheels
Dennis Martins, Santee Foodbank
• Estela DeLosRios, CSA San Diego County Fair Housing
• Keri Irwin & Leila Head, Recovery and Beyond
• Cesar Javier
Skylar Phillips, East County Transitional Living Center (speaker slip submitted late, did not speak
Action: Vice Mayor Hall moved approval of staff recommendation.
Councilmember McNelis seconded the motion, which carried by the following vote: Mayor Minto: Aye; Vice Mayor Hall: Aye; and Councilmembers Koval: Aye; McNelis: Aye; and Trotter: Aye. Ayes: 5. Noes: 0.
The Public Hearing was continued to February 25, 2026, at 7:43 p.m.
CONTINUED BUSINESS:
Update on the Four Selected Retail Commercial Cannabis Businesses (CCBs), and Finding the Update is Not a "Project" as Defined by the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") and Therefore Not Subject to CEQA. (Planning and Building - Sawa)
Sandi Sawa, Planning and Building Director, provided a PowerPoint presentation and responded to Council question with the assistance of Aldo Hernandez, Sheriff Office. The City Council provided feedback to staff.
NON-AGENDA PUBLIC COMMENT (Continued):
None.
CITY COUNCIL REPORTS:
Councilmember McNelis announced the passing of former Fire Chief Richard Mattick.
Mayor Minto spoke about an upcoming conference for the League of California Cities and spoke about potential changes to the way sales taxes are distributed to cities with assistance from the Shawn Hagerty, City Attorney, and Wendy Kaserman, City Manager.
CITY MANAGER REPORTS:
None.
Santee City Council Regular Meeting Minutes of February 11, 2026 CITY ATTORNEY REPORTS:
(10) Report on New Laws Enacted in 2025 Relevant to Santee. (City Attorney - Hagerty)
Shawn Hagerty, City Attorney, provided a PowerPoint presentation and responded to Council questions with the assistance of Wendy Kaserman, City Manager.
CLOSED SESSION:
Councilmembers recessed at 8:21 p.m. and convened in Closed Session at 8:26 p.m. (11) Conference with Legal Counsel - Existing Litigation (Gov. Code § 54956.9(d) (1))
Names of Cases: Loren Krumweide v. City of Santee, Workers' Compensation Claim Numbers 12466968, 13516148, 19752889, 19752889, 19759278 and 201015407
Councilmembers reconvened in Open Session at 4:44 p.m., with all members present.
Mayor Minto reported for Item 11, by unanimous vote Council approved specific terms for a settlement.
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:44 p.m.
Date Approved: March 11, 2026