CITY OF SOUTH GATE
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025
CALL TO ORDER M aria Davila, Mayor called a Regular City Council Meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.
INVOCATION Bishop Juan Carlos Mendez
P
LEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Yodit Glaze, City Clerk
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 PRESENTATION T he City Council recognized Retiring Police Chief, Darren Arakawa. 2 SCHOOLS/EDUCATION
The City Council unanimously received and filed a presentation on the Proposed Implementation of School Traffic Plan for the 2025-2026 School Year by motion of Council Member Davila and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
RO
LL 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
ITEMS Pablo Cifuentes, volunteers at the South Gate JAA, stated being asked to leave the fields at South Gate Park by city staff.
M
ario Sanchez, coach and volunteer for AYSO, inquired about lighting at Hollydale Park. He has noticed the baseball fields at South Gate Park are empty 90% of the time and if there could be a resolution to the issue.
B
renda works for The Office of Durango Mexico and is concerned about a business next door that is opened 24/7 with questionable clientele. She mentioned an incident at that business and congratulated Chief Arakawa for great response from the Police Officers.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025
COMMENTS FROM THE
AUDIENCE – NON-AGENDA
ITEMS Maria Herrera and others in the audience are present tonight with Casa Durango stated they do not feel safe anymore with that certain business that is open 24/7. They are saddened Chief Arakawa is retiring and hope they will be left in good hands.
Evelyn, AYSO inquired about lighting at Hollydale Park. She mentioned a few grants the City of South Gate has received.
Esperanza Perez has over fifteen years of service as a social worker, six years as a license clinical social worker working with veterans. She served eight years in the army. Ms. Perez volunteers as a coach in the AYSO soccer league and inquired about the lack of lighting at Hollydale Park.
Manuel Carrillo experienced a life-changing injury a month ago. He demanded and instigated action on park safety and maintenance, affordable recreational activities, and equitable healthcare access.
Nelson Hermosillo, 10135 Dorothy Ave., was not happy with certain Council Members behavior at the last City Council Meeting. A certain Council Member had concerns about the City’s budget which should be addressed.
EMAILS Mario Dominguez stated that the Tweedy Mile Advisory Board has failed to meet twice in a row and is asking City Council to review their appointments. He is also asking City Council to consider reducing the Citizens Advisory Committee from 20 to 10 members to ensure quorum.
He is also asking for an update on the fiber optic project.
Claudia Rivera expressed disappointment with Council Member Rios who did not support a raise for SEIU represented city employees. She noted that as a union member herself she expected his support.
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS Arturo Cervantes, Director of Public Works, stated no updates.
Steve Costley, Director of Parks and Recreation, stated that AYSO was founded in South Gate in 1993 and has always been at Hollydale Regional Park and for almost 32 years it has never had lights except for an experiment last year which didn’t sufficient lighting. The program was more of a summer based to start getting the kids ready for the weekend and whatever time frame the city could offer. As to the concept of lights at Hollydale Regional Park, it is in the master plan of which the city is asking for grant funding to get design for from the Recreation and Open Space District for the County of Los Angeles. The estimate for Phase 1 is close to 20 million dollars.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS
CONT’D Mr. Costley stated that as to the question about grant funding, none of the grant funding that the city currently receive was designated for Hollydale Regional Park. It was designated for Hollydale Community Park. The funding was either Prop 68 or state mandated funding that came from Assembly Member Rendon’s Office.
Mr. Costley stated the grand opening at Circle Park went well and thanked the county, state, and RMC for all their help.
Mayor Davila asked City Manager to explain to the audience how the city receives grants and how they are used.
Rob Houston, City Manager, stated it is very complicated to apply for funding for any type of project. There are many agencies and cities competing for funds. The city has done an amazing job in getting funding but the amount of need in the community is always greater than the amount of funds. The funds would not be used or available for revamping an existing park or adding lights at a park. The funds have limitations on what they might be used at.
Mr. Houston explained that most of the park’s property is not the city. It belongs to the Southern California Edison due to the powerlines.
Gabriel Perez, Director of Community Development, stated no updates.
Luis Frausto, Director of Administration Services, stated no updates.
Jon Hamilton, Director of Human Resources, stated no updates.
Darren Arakawa, Chief of Police, addressed the issue with 9825 Long Beach Blvd., and stated that the police department is aware of that location.
Rob Houston, City Manager, stated that the city had a Police Chief recruitment that has been occurring over the last several months. Captain Manny Arana was offered the job as Police Chief.
Darren Arakawa, Chief of Police, announced that tomorrow will be the final roll call for him and then the transition of the Office of the Chief of Police. He will be very happy and proud to put the badge on Captain Arana.
Manny Arana, Police Captain, thanked everyone for their support for the position as Police Chief.
Raúl F. Salinas, City Attorney, congratulated the new Police Chief.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025
REPORTS AND COMMENTS
FROM CITY OFFICIALS
CONT’D Jose De La Paz, City Treasurer, congratulated the new Police Chief.
Yodit Glaze, City Clerk, congratulated the new Police Chief. She also introduced Lindsay Sanavria, Southeast High school student. Ms. Sanavria was interested in shadowing Mr. Glaze during a Council Meeting.
Council Member Avalos welcomed the New Chief of Police and farewell to Police Chief Arakawa.
Council Member Avalos attended the League of Cities’ yearly expo in Long Beach. She attended several workshops that focused on good governance, fiscal responsibility and strategies for addressing municipal deficits. She also attended a community recognition dinner honoring several nonprofit organizations in the Southeast Los Angeles area, including the YMCA and SELA Kiwanis. She had the privilege of attending the grand reopening of Circle Park and thanked Steve Costely, Director of Parks & Recreation.
Council Member Avalos spoke about new legislation, specifically SB707 coming into effect July 1, 2026, SB79, which is a transit-oriented housing development upzoning which will make it faster and easier to build multifamily units. She reminded everyone to vote.
Council Member Hurtado is concerned about SB707 due to the change in the new law which states if the system is disrupted, the legislative body must recess for at least one hour and if the system does not come on the meeting continues but if someone was going to call in, it wont be possible.
Council Member Hurtado is glad that some of the AYSO issues were addressed. He attended the grand opening of Circle Park.
Council Member Rios stated the city needs to find a resolution for AYSO.
He mentioned cities that have call-in features, and this city should have one too.
Council Member Rios thanked Vice Mayor Barron as the President for SELA Kiwanis and the SELA Kiwanis for the event on September 30 th.
Vice Mayor Barron stated that for the last two months, he has been working on how to solve the AYSO problem. He is concerned regarding the state’s mandates to have properties being built up to 6 feet.
Mayor Davila attended the Circle Park grand opening. She asked if the city could look into a temporary solution for Hollydale Park. She congratulated the new Police Chief.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025
RECESS The City Council recessed at 8:51 p.m., and reconvened at 8:58 p.m., with all Members of Council present.
CONSENT CALENDAR Agenda Items 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 were approved by motion of Council Member Avalos and seconded by Council Member Hurtado. Item 5 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.
3 MUNICIPAL CODE
ADMIN The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. Waived the reading in full and adopted Ordinance No. 2025-01-0CC entitled An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of South Gate, California, approving a Zoning Code Amendment, which amends Title 11, Chapter 11.43 (Accessory Dwelling Units and Accessory Structures) of the South Gate Municipal Code; and
b. Accepting the determination that the proposed amendment is Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) as a “ministerial” project pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15268(a).
4 PERSONNEL RECRUITMENT
& SELECTION The City Council unanimously approved items A, B & C during Consent Calendar:
a. Resolution No. 2025-34-CC entitled Resolution of the City Council of the City of South Gate, California, retitling the job classification of Equipment Maintenance Superintendent to Fleet and General Services Maintenance Superintendent in the Public Works Department;
b. Updating the consolidated salary schedule for the position of Fleet and General Services Maintenance Superintendent; and
c. Updating the consolidated salary schedule for the position of Senior Engineer.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025
5 ANIMAL CONTROL
The City Council unanimously approved items A &n B during Consent Calendar:
a. Agreement (Contract No. 2025-70-CC) with the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority for animal control and sheltering services, retroactively effective July 1, 2025, for an amount not to exceed $1,119,707 for Fiscal Year 2025/26; and
b. Authorized the Mayor to execute the agreement in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
6 LAW ENFORCEMENT The City Council unanimously appropriated funds in the amount of $45,577 to Account Number 232-541-21-6204 (Law Enforcement Grants - Homeland Security- Small Tools and Equipment) to fund the completion of the 2022 SHSP Grant Project in FY 2025/26, during Consent Calendar.
7 EMERGENCY/DISASTER
PLANNING/PROGRAMS The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. Accepted $1,226,000 in grant funds from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) and appropriating the funds to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Project, City Project No. 582-ARC; and
b. Appropriated $100,000 in AQMD Funds and $308,667 from Building Infrastructure and Maintenance Fund (BIM) to fully fund the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) project, City Project No. 582- ARC.
8 LAW ENFORCEMENT The City Council unanimously approved items A, B & C during Consent Calendar:
a. Authorized utilization of the 2025-2026 Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (“STEP”) Grant Funds in the amount of $140,000 for overtime, equipment, and training expenses;
b. Amended the Fiscal Year 2025/26 Law Enforcement Grants Fund Budget by appropriating $115,335 for overtime salaries, $21,912 for equipment, and $2,753.00 for training expenses; and
c. Authorized the Chief of Police to execute the STEP Grant Agreement in a form acceptable to the City Attorney.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF OCTOBER 14, 2025 9 SPORTS CENTER MGMT The City Council unanimously approved items A & B during Consent Calendar:
a. Authorized the City Manager to approve Change Order No. 1 to Purchase Order with California Commercial Pools to fund emergency repairs at the Patricia G. Mitchell Swim Stadium, in an amount not to exceed $63,225; and
b. Appropriated $104,025 from the General Fund to replenish the FY 2025/26 Pool Maintenance Budget as needed to fund planned repairs. 10 WARRANTS The City Council unanimously approved the Warrant Register for October 14, 2025, by motion of Council MemberAvalos and seconded by Council Member Hurtado.
Total ofChecks: $ 3,901,891.30
Less:Voids $ (16,713.43)
Less: Employee Payroll Deductions $ (438,725.82)
GrandTotal: $ 3,446,452.05
Cancellations:110340,111051,109484, 111347,110576,111680,111681, 111682, 111683, 111684, and 111193
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 9:05 p.m. in memory of Jose Murillo, brother of Jesus Murillo, South Gate employee and seconded by Council Member Avalos.
PASSED and APPROVED on this 25"' day of November 2025. !-,4tcA'
ATTEST:
Yodit City Clerk