LIES CONNY
CITY OF WEST COVINA
CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY
REGULAR EE
CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
1444 W. GARVEY AVENUE SOUTH
WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA 91790
Mayor Tony Wu
Масоно отя Роза ado
Councilmember Brian Gutierrez
MINTUES
CITY OF WEST COVINA
CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY
INVOCATION
Led by Pastor Samuel Martinez of Amazing Love Ministries
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Led by Councilwoman Diaz
ROLL CALL
Council Members
Present: Council Members Ollie Cantos, Rosario Diaz, Brian Gutierrez, Mayor Pro Tem Letty Lopez-Viado, Mayor Tony Wu
Absent: None
REPORTING OUT FROM CLOSED SESSION
City Attorney Thomas Durate reported that no action was taken during the Closed Session Meeting
PRESENTATIONS
: Proclamation Recogng a May i Asian American and Pacific ISlander Heritage Month
• Proclamation Celebrating the 56th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week
• Proclamation Celebrating Small Business Week
Certificate Honoring Michael Yuan
• Presentation on the West Covina Explorer Program
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - Three (3) minutes per speaker
John Shewmaker
Jerri Potras
Brian Calderon Tabatabai
Leyla Calderon
Zackhary Rami
John Carson
Michael Disarufino
Nora Ortega
Tom Kiesche
Veronica Menjivar
Bob Arnold
Alex Charlier
Christina Larios
Trever Jackson
Glenn Kennedy
Doug Fore
Mr. G
*Per Municipal Code Section 2-54 a statement by Councilman Cantos regarding Item No. 12 is attached at the end of the minutes.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
City Manager's report on current City projects.
CONSENT CALENDAR
ACTION: Motion by Councilwoman Diaz and Second by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez- Viado, 5-0 to: Approve Consent Calendar Items 1-5 and 8-11. (Item No. 6 was pulled by Councilwoman Diaz and Item No. 7 was pulled by Councilmember Gutierrez).
ACTION: Motion by Councilmember Gutierrez and Second by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez-Viado 3-2 (No: Cantos, Diaz) to: Approve Consent Calendar Item No. 6 with changes to the recommendations (Item was pulled by Councilwoman Diaz).
ACTION: Motion by Councilman Cantos and Second by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez- Viado, 5-0 to: Approve Consent Calendar Item 7. (Item was pulled by Councilmember Gutierrez).
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
1) CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF THE MARCH 18, APRIL 1, AND APRIL 15, 2025 CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY REGULAR SESSION MEETING MINUTES AND THE MARCH 4, 2025, CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY CLOSED SESSION MEETING MINUTES.
Carried 5-0 to approve the March 4, April 1, and April 15, 2025, City Council/Successor Agency Regular Session Meeting Minutes and the March 4, 2025, City Council/Successor Agency Closed Session Meeting Minutes.
ORDINANCES FOR ADOPTION - Procedural Waiver. Waive full reading of each ordinance on the agenda and authorize the approval of each ordinance by title only. 2) CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 2530 TO AMEND SECTION 22-141 OF DIVISION 5 OF ARTICLE IV OF CHAPTER 22 OF THE WEST
COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE EXISTING TRUCK ROUTES
Carried 5-0 to adopt the following ordinance:
ORDINANCE NO. 2530 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION 22-141 OF DIVISION 5 OF ARTICLE IV OF CHAPTER 22 OF THE WEST COVINA
MUNICIPAL CODE TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE EXISTING TRUCK
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
3) CONSIDERATION OF COMMISSIONER APPOINTMENTS
Carried 5-0 to receive and file this informational report. 4) CONSIDERATION OF NEW FIVE-YEAR GENERAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FOR THE PERIOD OF JULY 1, 2025 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2030
Carried 5-0 to adopt Resolution No. 2025-36, approving the General Services Agreement with the County of Los Angeles and authorizing the Mayor to execute the agreement in such final form as approved by the City Attorney:
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-36 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING THE GENERAL SERVICES
AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FOR MISCELLANEOUS
SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED TO THE CITY BY THE COUNTY ON AN AS-NEEDED
BASIS AND AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
5) CONSIDERATION OF THE GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT FOR 2024
Carried 5-0 to receive and file this staff report.
6) CONSIDERATION OF AGREEMENT WITH DAVID VOLZ DESIGN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, INC. FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE DEL NORTE PARK IMPROVEMENTS & DOG PARK PROJECT - PROJECT NO. 24001 Carried 3-2 to take the following actions:
1. Reject all bids; and
2. Issue a new RFP prior to the December holiday break with a bid opening date after the December holiday break; and
3. If needed information becomes available prior to the December holiday break, issue FRP sooner
FIRE DEPARTMENT
7) CONSIDERATION OF PURCHASE OF FIRE PREVENTION VEHICLES USING
SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT (AQMD) FUNDS Carried 5-0 to: take the following actions:
1. Authorize the purchase of three (3) 2025 RAM 1500 pickup trucks, with Lehr upfit package and standard West Covina Fire Department graphics, per specifications, from National Auto Fleet Group through Sourcewell Contrac # 091521-NAF (expires 11/8/2025), for a total of $197,687.94, including taxes and fees, using South Coast Air Quality Management District funds.
2. Approve the following resolution:
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-23 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A
BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR THÉ FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JULY
1, 2024 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 (PURCHASE OF VEHICLES
USING SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
(AQMD) FUNDS)
8) CONSIDERATION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH RINCON
ENVIRONMENTAL LLC FOR LOCAL ENFORCEMENT AGENCY REGULATORY
COMPLIANCE SERVICES
Carried 5-0 to execute the Professional Services Agreementwith Rincon Environmental LLC for Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) regulatory compliance services for a term of five (5) years, commencing July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2030, with an annual compensation amount not to exceed $75,000, in such final form as approved by the City Attorney.
POLICE DEPARTMENT
9) CONSIDERATION OF PURCHASE OF TACTICAL BULLETPROOF VESTS FOR
POLICE DEPARTMENT
Carried 5-0 to authorize the purchase of thirty-four (34) Project 7 tactical bulletproof vests directly from Aardvark of La Verne, CA, for a total of $144,452.40, including taxes, using federal equitable sharing funds previously budgeted in Fund 117. 10) CONSIDERATION OF BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT'S
COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH & RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CAD-RMS)
SERVICE
Carried 5-0 to adopt the following resolution authorizing the necessary budget amendment for the Police Department's CAD-RMS service:
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-34 - A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING A
BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR THÉ FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JULY
1, 2024 AND ENDING JUNE 30, 2025 (WCPD CAD-RMS SERVICE) 11) CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL MILITARY EQUIPMENT REPORT (AB 481) Carried 5-0 to receive and file the annual military equipment report.
END OF CONSENT CALENDAR
-THIS SPACE IS INTENTIONALY LEFT BLANK-
DEPARTMENTAL REGULAR MATTERS
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
12) EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CITY JOB DESCRIPTIONS
ACTION: Motion by Councilman Gutierrez and Second by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez- Viado, 3-1-1 to: (Abstain: Diaz, No: Cantos) to proceed with Option Number 2:
Remove Educational Requirement: Modify job descriptions to allow "any combination of education and experience" favoring but not requiring a degree. • The following is sample language that can be added to the job description: "Any combination of education and/or experience that has provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for acceptable job performance as determined by the City. Example combination includes, but is not limited to, graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in a related field and four years of professional experience, including two year in a supervisory capacity." • Staff would need direction confirming the following:
• Positions to be Changed - What City positions would be included: City Manager, Department Heads, Deputy Directors, Management positions, all the way to entry-level positions that currently require a Bachelors degree.
Number of Years in Professional and Management/supervisory capacity for each position - The progression, if any, on the number of years required, professional experience in the city government/in the field and number of years in a management/supervisory capacity.
• For example: Department Head job descriptions currently require a range of 3 - 15 years of professional experience. Some job descriptions specify the position that experience must be held in prior to the Department Head; Others include a required number of years in a management/supervisory capacity, ranging from 3 - 10 years.
Deputy Director's required professional experience ranges from 4 - 6 years with 2- 3 years serving in a management/supervisory capacity.
• Staff would need direction on Membership or Certification requirements or preference for the positions.
CITY COUNCIL REQUESTS FOR REPORTS
13) SPRING FESTIVAL 2025 EXPENDITURE AND REVENUE BREAKDOWN It is recommended that the City Council receive and file the Spring Festival 2025 Expenditure and Revenue Breakdown.
MAYOR/COUNCILMEMBERS REPORTS
None
CITY COUNCIL REQUESTS FOR REPORTS, STUDIES OR INVESTIGATION • Councilman Cantos requested that the staff be instructed put together a budget study group where the community is together along with Council at an open meeting to talk about what to spend our money recognizing our need to stay in the black. It's important for us to prioritize and do it together using the City of Walnut as a model. There was a second by Diaz and approved 3-2 (No:
Gutierrez, Wu).
• Councilwoman Diaz and Council request the cost to have alternating schedules from Nationwide and also the cost to replace the signage that has already been issued (in high density areas) and a way to track the streets that complaints are being received, and address sign pollution and ADA access. - No objection. • Mayor Pro Tem Lopez-Viado requested that the elevators get serviced and/or upgraded. No objection
• Mayor Pro Tem Lopez-Viado requested that the first 4 seats in the first row get re-labeled for presentations and next speakers with better signage. No objection • Councilmember Gutierrez requested the City Manager to conduct an in-house salary survey for Directors in the Southern California region. - There was no second, request failed.
• Councilmember Gutierrez requests the City Manager to work with Finance to look into the asset forfeiture process and the timing it takes for items to be purchased. No objection.
• Council Member Gutierrez requested the City Manager to look into the ordinance that requires hotels/motels to register guests and bring back recommendations to address the issue more effectively. - No objection
• Councilmember Gutierrez requested that any major events that supersede $100,000, bring back a report to Council within a month of the event - request failed. Councilmember Gutierrez requested that the information go to him directly.
CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS
• Councilwoman Diaz wished a Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. • Councilmember Gutierrez wished Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is a figure to a child.
• Councilman Cantos also wished a Happy Mother's Day to all.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting was made by Mayor Tony Wu, and the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m. The next regularly scheduled Regular Closed City Council Meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, 1444 West Garvey Avenue South, West Covina, California.
Submitted By
i Thench
Assistan City Clerk
STATEMENT OF COUNCILMAN OLLIE CANTOS
Regarding Agenda Item 12
of the Regular Meeting of the City Council or
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
***
Dear City Council Colleagues:
Pursuant to Section 2-54 of the West Covina Municipal Code, which grants each of us the right to have reasons for dissent from or protest against any action entered in the minutes (Code 1960, § 2123), I hereby enter this statement into the record to be included as part of the official minutes from the City Council meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. This necessarily means inclusion in the Council packet that is distributed to us and viewable by the public.
I rise in fervent opposition to any efforts by the Council to lower educational requirements as presently set forth under our existing parameters as already formally established for most executive and managementpositions. Since our current framework does not require such a four-year Bachelor's Degree for the staff incumbent in the role of Code Enforcement Director, what follows here expressly refrains from addressing that specific position.
As we consider Agenda Item 12 on tonight's City Council agenda, I write to express my strong support for maintaining the requirement that executive-level and management positions in the City of West Covina, including the City Manager, hold a Bachelor's Degree at a minimum.
This requirement is not merely a formality—it is a standard of professionalism that reflects our commitment to effective, ethical, and forward-looking governance. The staff report accompanying this item makes clear that the removal of such a requirement would be "highly unusual," a conclusion drawn from their affirmative survey of neighboring cities. These findings underscore what we already know: that cities across our region and state overwhelmingly expect a certain baseline of educational achievement for individuals entrusted with the highest levels of municipal responsibility.
The complexity of executive roles in local government-from budget oversight to policy implementation, labor relations, and interagency coordination -demands a level of technical competence, and an ethical framework necessary to serve the public well.
We must also consider the message that removing this requirement would send. In a time when the public increasingly demands transparency, accountability, and competence from government, lowering standards for executive and managerial leadership would be a disservice to our fellow residents and our workforce. It would not only place West Covina out of step with professional norms, but also potentially weaken our ability to recruit and retain high-quality candidates.
Sometimes, when discussing the importance of educational standards, a debate may arise regarding whether or to what extent having a college education is essential to effective implementation of existing duties by the incumbent in an executive or managerial position. Frankly, to ask such a question about whether practical real-world experience is more important than fulfilling minimum educational requirements actually sidesteps the more important question about how it would be in our city's best interests to change our current requirements by eliminating the post-secondary education requirement. In other words, by lowering the rigor of what is minimally required (i.e., at least a Bachelor's Degree but ideally higher such as a Master's Degree in addition to other technical certifications). Stated in all candor, it would not. We as a Council owe it to our fellow residents to attract and retain the most highly-qualified candidates possible. Any actions to remove existing educational requirements only increases th e likelihood of unforeseen problems occurring in the future. That is because, whenever a person completes a four-year college degree, he or she becomes better prepared to tackle a number of issues in ways that could not merely be done without that educational framework in mind. In saying this, in no way am I trying to imply or express any type of educational snobbery. Rather, particularly considering how it is far better to have a college degree than not to have one, why should we as a city lower our standards by removing the education requirement that presently exists and that is an element of best practices as exhibited by other cities around us? Our residents deserve the most qualified individuals to apply and to be accepted. Lowering our standards sends the wrong message and also stands the chance of selecting candidates who would not do as well in comparison to those who have college degrees. Our city deserves the best staff, and that necessarily includes staff who are both educationally qualified and who have the practical experience necessary to tackle their complex responsibilities. Why debate whether the former is more or less important than the latter when we have the ongoing oppprtunity to require both is actually what is best? The only thing that I may fathom as a basis for changing educational requirements would be if anyone or more members of this Council already has in mind the selection of a particular future individual to serve either as City Manager or in another leadership post but who presently does not meet existing standards. If or to whatever extent this is the case as events subsequent to tonight will surely reveal, changing the governing rules simply to allow a preferred candidate who does not rise to meet current standards would illustrate blatant and unwelcome politicization of the highest order and would make a literal mockery of our present system. Our city has firmly established high standards for a reason. Namely, this is what our fellow residents so rightly and richly deserve. Particularly considering the rough waters that lie ahead, especially now, we need staff leaders who are highly-qualified, both in meeting minimum educational standards and in having the practical knowledge that comes with years and years of direct field experience. Why in the world should we relax this requirement which itself is a standard that is practiced by other cities of similar size right around us? It frankly makes no sense.
I respectfully urge my fellow Councilmembers to join me in preserving this essential equirement. Let us affirm our shared commitment to excellence in city leadership an‹ ensure that West Covina continues to be guided by individuals who are both qualifier and capable of meeting the challenges ahead.
Thank you for taking these thoughts into consideration as we determine how to proceed. As a Council, I vehemently assert that we must leave our existing education requirements alone.
Sincerely,
Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos, Esq.