CITY OF SOUTH GATE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
CALL TO ORDER M aria Davila, Mayor called a Regular City Council Meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
INVOCATION Steve Costley, Director of Parks and Recreation P
LEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Darren Arakawa, Chief of Police
RO
LL CALL Y odit Glaze, City Clerk
PRESENT M ayor Maria Davila, Vice Mayor Joshua Barron, Council Member Maria del Pilar Avalos, Council Member Gil Hurtado and Council Member Al Rios; City Treasurer Jose De La Paz, City Manager Rob Houston, City Attorney Raúl F. Salinas
1 F
INANCIAL MGMT The City Council:
a. A
dopted Resolution No. 2025-26-CC entitled Resolution of the City Council of the City of South Gate, California, establishing a new Schedule of Fees for City services effective for FY 2025-26; b. A
uthorized the Mayor to execute the Resolution in a form acceptable to the City Attorney; and
c. R
escinding Resolution No. 2021-51-CC
R
ob Houston, City Manager, stated there is a presentation on the fee schedule, and Luis Frausto, Director of Administrative Services will present the presentation.
L
uis Frausto, Director of Administrative Services, presented the proposed master fee schedule for Fiscal Year 2025-26 and requested City Council’s approval of the resolution establishing the updated fees for city services and rescinding the city’s prior fee resolution from 2021.
M
ayor Davila asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak on this item.
L
iz Ruiz, Kauffman Avenue, is not in support of raising city fees. As to the electronic public records request fees, it wasn’t uncommon to pay for copies.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
1 FINANCIAL MGMT
CONT’D Having no one else come forward, Mayor Davila closed the audience portion.
EMAILS Mario Dominguez requested City Council to eliminate fees for emailed public records request, adopt a Quimby fee for ordinance to fund parks and recreation, remove the $3 bicycle license fee and stop the increase in the body warn camera footage fee.
Council Member Hurtado requested not raising the preferential parking fee. He addressed the code enforcement fees and did not see fees regarding electric vehicles on sidewalks.
Chief Arakawa stated the police department are working on an education campaign.
Council Member Avalos stated that the preferential parking fee is only 7%.
It is not a huge difference, but Code Enforcement is something to look at.
Council Member Avalos motioned to approve the master fee schedule with the exception of Code Enforcement and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
Mr. Frausto asked for clarification on the motion.
Mr. Houston stated it was mentioned perhaps freezing one of the fees and then a counterproposal of not freezing the preferential parking. Then how to handle from a policy perspective a repeat offender but the actual fee that’s being proposed to have a slight increase for the code enforcement fine.
ROLL CALL: Council Member Avalos, yes; Council Member Hurtado, yes; Council Member Rios, yes; Vice Mayor Barron, yes; Mayor Davila, yes.
COMMENTS FROM THE
AUDIENCE - NON-AGENDA Juan Rosas Castaneda, 2450 Illinois Avenue, complained about the new water meter.
Claudia Rivera is dissatisfied with Councilwoman Avalos’ character.
Ana, Director of the South Gate Chamber of Commerce, thanked everyone for joining the job fair. 452 people attended the job fair. She mentioned Northgate has been providing vouchers for food insecurity to the community. She mentioned the State of the City address hosted Thursday, November 6
th at the Henry C. Gonzalez Auditorium and the Children’s Christmas Lane Parade is Sunday, December 14th.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
COMMENTS FROM THE
AUDIENCE - NON-AGENDA
CONT’D Sonia, South Gate resident, stated there was an accident at the corner of State Street and Illinois Avenue and a community member passed away due to lack of a pedestrian walk.
Armando Velasquez, Independence Avenue, announced upcoming events with the Kiwanis Club of South Gate. He also mentioned having issues with emails from Kiwanis to City Hall.
Liz Ruiz, Kauffman Avenue, is the Vice Chair for the Parks Commission, and reiterated the importance of working with partner organizations and emphasized the people are volunteers. She is disappointed with the comments made by Councilwoman Avalos relating to auditing the buildings.
Candace Solache, Tweedy Boulevard, echoed the sentiments that Ms. Ruiz expressed.
Alan Flores, Chairman of the Parks Commission mentioned all the organizations and volunteers are important. He is also disappointed with all the social media attacking City Council.
Maria Hernandez thanked everyone that replied to her email regarding Circle Park and the residents’ concerns.
EMAILS Mario Dominguez requesting that the city install bike racks on its public transportation vans.
South Gate Junior Athletic Association, South Gate Aztecs Youth Football, South Gate AYSO Region 652, South Gate Aqua Coalition, and South Gate Boy and Cub Scout submitted a joint letter urging the City Council to protect affordable access to city facilities that support youth programs.
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS Arturo Cervantes, Director of Public Works Department, addressed the comments from the audience regarding the charging station by the Civic Center, water meters and Circle Park. He also mentioned the residential resurfacing project is making lots of progress.
Council Member Hurtado asked that the cross issue be addressed.
Mr. Cervantes mentioned the intersection has certain traffic controls and the city is planning to re-stripe.
City Attorney Salinas stated the cause of the incident was not anything having to do with the striping of the streets or conditions of the streets.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS
CONT’D Steve Costley, Director of Parks & Recreation, invited everyone to the new Teen Center location in the Girls Clubhouse on September 15th from 3-6 p.m. He mentioned an issue with the pool due to a power outage in the city and then cascaded down to other issues. It will be closed through the end of September. He also mentioned having a fireworks show during Halloween on October 31
st.
Gabriel Perez, Director of Community Development, had no updates.
Luis Frausto, Director of Administrative Services, had no updates.
Jon Hamilton, Director of Human Services, had no updates.
Darren Arakawa, Chief of Police reported that this past Thursday, three police officer recruits graduated, which will start field training. There will be a car show in two weeks at South Gate Park. The Trunk and Treat is scheduled for Thursday, October 30
th in front of city hall. The Pageant of
the Trees meeting is coming up shortly.
Rob Houston, City Manager, stated the city has amazing facilities that the community gets great use of, but very expensive to operate as they get older.
Raúl F. Salinas, City Attorney, nothing to report.
Jose De La Paz, City Treasurer, nothing to report.
Yodit Glaze, City Clerk, nothing to report.
Council Member Avalos thanked everyone present tonight and also on YouTube. She had the pleasure of attending the Rotary. She thanked Northgate for matching their donations with the community’s donations.
She will be attending the Vector Control meeting this week.
Council Member Avalos stated that no one from the JAA has made a meaningful response to any of her questions she believes lies at the heart of the personal attacks she has been receiving. She formally requested a valuation, and she is requesting it again on record. She has not received a response to the requested valuation and documentation.
Council Member Avalos spoke on leadership and second chances. She does not believe in blacklisting people for saying critical things about her in the past or disagree and act like a dictator. The recent appointment being discussed or brought up, is not based on personal history or to stop someone from criticizing her. The individual in question has previously served on the commission and has demonstrated both experience and REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS
CONT’D dedication to the community. This individual has provided information to the community during the ICE raids. She is asking to move forward with integrity, compassion, and renewed focus on what really matters most, which is the well-being of this community.
Council Member Hurtado stated the Rotary Club had a nice event. ICE raids might get worse due to the Supreme Court’s decision. He explained that any city projects close to where he resides, by law he must recuse himself.
Council Member Rios hopes there can be some compromise with SCE regarding Circle Park and the residents. He attended the school safety collaborative with the Mayor and it was well attended. He is saddened the swimming pool is closed for a month. The job fair was well attended. He thanked Northgate for providing food vouchers.
Vice Mayor Barron is the President of the SELA Kiwanis and mentioned upcoming events (September 30
th will be the Second Annual College Fair
and Career Fair at the Henry C. Gonzalez Auditorium from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There will be over 27 universities, colleges, and workforce development organizations. September 20
th is going to be the SELA day of
service.)
Vice Mayor Barron visited the residents on Karmont regarding Circle Park. He urges families to have a preparation plan in place due to the Supreme Court’s decision to remove the temporary restraining order.
Mayor Davila attended the Chamber of Commerce and Veterans Resource fair and was very impressed by how well it was attended. She also attended the Gateway Cities COG retreat and the three main topics discussed were transportation, broadband and homelessness. She thanked the public for attending tonight’s meeting.
CONSENT CALENDAR Agenda Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were unanimously approved by motion of Council Member Avalos and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
Item 8 was pulled for separate discussion.
ROLL CALL: Council Member Avalos, yes; Council Member Hurtado, yes; Council Member Rios, yes; Vice Mayor Barron, yes; Mayor Davila, yes.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
2 WATER The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. Resolution No. 2025-27-CC entitled Resolution of the City Council of the City of South Gate, California, approving the Amended and Restated Joint Powers Agreement (Contract No. 2394) with the Los Angeles Gateway Region Integrated Regional Water Management Joint Powers Authority, thereby reaffirming the City’s participation and continuing membership until such time the City elects to withdraw, which has annual membership dues of $15,000; and
b. Authorized the Mayor to execute the Agreement in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
3 COMMUNITY DEV/
HOUSING The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. Amendment No. 5 to Contract No. 2020-19-CC with RSG, Inc., to continue providing as-needed services to the Community Development Department effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, with potential two one-year extensions in an amount not to exceed $125,000; and
b. Authorized the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 5 in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
4 LAW ENFORCEMENT The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. The renewal of the Agreement (Contract No. 2021-122-CC) with Axon Enterprise, Inc. for the continued use of body-worn cameras and related accessories for police department personnel; and
b. The issuance of a purchase order to Axon Enterprise, Inc. for ongoing program implementation and support.
5 CODE ENFORCEMENT
ADMIN The City Council unanimously approved items A, B & C during Consent Calendar:
a. Agreement (Contract No. 2025-58-CC) with Willdan Engineering to provide one Code Enforcement Supervisor for an initial term of four- months, with the option to extend the Agreement for one additional month, in a form acceptable to the City Attorney;
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
5 CODE ENFORCEMENT
ADMIN CONT’D
b. Authorized the Mayor to execute the Agreement and any necessary amendments or extensions; and
c. The reappropriation of $88,000 from Salaries (Account No. 100-604- 29-5101) to Professional Services (Account No. 100-604-29-6101) to fund the contract.
6 LAND USE PLANNING
ADMIN
The City Council unanimously directed staff to release a request for qualifications (RFQ) to solicit proposals to establish a list of consultants who can provide various services for planning, landscaping and/or environmental issues.
7 PARKS The City Council unanimously approved items A, B & C during Consent Calendar:
a. A Purchase Order with Intergraphics Company Printer in the amount of $71,000 (for four 40-page quarterly brochures at $17,750 each) to print, fold, and mail the City’s Connect brochure;
b. Authorized the City’s Purchasing Division to issue a Purchase Order for this process in accordance with the City’s purchasing ordinance and policies; and
c. Authorized the Director of Parks & Recreation to execute any additional documents as may be required for future issues of the Connect.
8 CITY COUNCIL
APPOINTMENTS The City Council considered ratifying the appointment by Council Member Maria del Pilar Avalos of Robert Montalvo to the Parks & Recreation Commission.
Mayor Davila motioned to oppose the appointment of Robert Montalvo to the Parks & Recreation Commission and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
ROLL CALL: Council Member Avalos, no; Council Member Hurtado, yes; Council Member Rios, abstained; Vice Mayor Barron, yes; Mayor Davila, yes.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 9 WARRANTS The City Council unanimously approved the Warrant Register for September 9, 2025, by motion of Mayor Davila and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
Total ofChecks: $ 2,243,046.39
Less:Voids $ (0.00)
Less: Employee Payroll Deductions $ (389,263.46)
GrandTotal: $1,853,782.93
Cancellations: None
ROLL CALL: Council MemberAvalos, yes; Council Member Hurtado, yes; Council Member Rios, yes; Vice Mayor Barron, yes; Mayor Davila, yes.
ADJOURNMENT Council Member Hurtado unanimously adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. and seconded by Council Member Avalos.
PASSED and APPROVED on this 28" day of October 2025.
ATTEST:
Yodit aze, City Clerk