City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES NOVEMBER 1, 2023 ACTION MINUTES – These minutes are prepared to depict action taken for agenda items presented to the City Council. For detail of this meeting refer to the electronic media (CD and/or audio) kept as a permanent record. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Llanez called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Police Commander Reyna led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Douglas Begonia, Jr., Brett Jones, Kenneth Lambert, Deborah Lewis, Mayor Paul Llanez; ABSENT: None. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: City Manager Pinheiro, City Attorney Vaughn, Police Commander Reyna, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, City Treasurer Lawrence, Fire Chief Tualla, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim, Interim Finance Director Kuhn, Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Lemus CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. PRESENTATIONS: CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR OCTOBER 2023 – VINNY GRECO, POLICE OFFICER IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT; PROCLAMATION – COMMEMORATING VETERANS DAY. Mayor Llanez presented the certificates, for which Vinny Greco and Mike Hughes were in attendance to accept. PUBLIC FORUM: MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC MAY ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ON ANY ITEM OF PUBLIC INTEREST THAT IS WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE CITY; INCLUDES AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS. SPEAKERS ARE LIMITED TO A FIVE (5) MINUTE PRESENTATION. DETAILED GUIDELINES ARE POSTED ON THE COUNCIL CHAMBER INFORMATIONAL TABLE. Mayor Llanez opened the public forum and asked those at the meeting if they would like to speak. UNNAMED PERSON, would like to speak to item e & h on the consent and if Mr. Kuhn is not an employee why are we comparing him to others with salary and benefits, how the $165 an hour includes all travel expenses, she requests that a local applicant be hired or post a job announcement, as to item H how come at our Measure H meeting this wasn’t brought up, and she wouldn’t be talking negatively if she didn’t feel uncomfortable with what her city is doing, she is asking to have the meetings changed to 7:00 pm to allow more residents to attend; UNNAMED PERSON, has concerns about item E and asked for a homeless update and the grant the city applied for was months ago, is there a plan b if we don’t get that funding, it’s difficult when we are not informed as to what is going on, would appreciate a public update as to what is going on with our homeless population who are building houses on the rail trail, she has heard things come up regarding ARPA concerns and would like some follow-up, item 7E regarding the Interim Finance Director and how the amount seems way out of line, $26,000 is a lot with no benefits, she looked and couldn’t find anywhere that anyone was being paid that amount of money, would like some type of reasoning why we can’t hire somebody and bring that number down; UNNAMED PERSON, spoke regarding the Finance Director’s fraudulent agreement, how the city manager is replacing the contract and nowhere in the current contract does it state that travel and accommodations be paid, 16 months the city has been paying for travel time and travel expenses and payments that were made that were not part of the contract, how AB5 prevents such hiring referring to the 3 part test he can only be hired as an employee, the solution is not to replace it the agreement but proper due diligence, he is requesting city council to pull item from the agenda, he asked the city manager why he included travel training and who approved the finance director’s invoices, the city council should be required to recoup travel expenses and vote against the professional services agreement; TIA HUDSON, stated that item G – hiring of a police chief is not a consent agenda item and should be on the regular agenda, item E – should not be on the consent agenda as there are interim finance director agreement concerns regarding the undetermined period of time, is it being recruited for and how they have chosen that this is the guy, public funds are being allocated to reimburse his travel expenses, how she and her husband came to a meeting to read a letter from a group of city union employees and how a member of this council delivered a threat to us, he demanded that we write a check back for the ARPA funds we had received, threats have been made to our upcoming move, how his approach is to target the messenger and is at the level of reaction and intimidation, she implores all Los Banos residents to stay engaged; UNNAMED PERSON stated that we need an Animal Advisory Committee and mentioned that Council Member Lambert stated that all of this is in the works, they don’t want it to end up on the consent agenda, we want to be involved and we want the animal advisory committee and it is needed, how they are told that department heads are working on it and just wants to know what it going on; KATHY UHLEY, stated that we need an animal advisory commission, it is long overdue and a huge asset to the community, worried about the animal shelter and worried about the fund and hopes that the funding does not disappear and would be nice to hear what is happening with our shelter, shelter is an end of the line and the problem stems from the beginning when they are not cared for, importance of spay and neuter services, congratulated Ray Reyna and super excited to see that our new Police Chief is hired from within; UNNAMED PERSON, thank you for recognizing Veterans Day with the proclamation and spoke to the history of Veterans Day, there is no openness at council meetings, oversight, accountability, public input is not allowed, the most important thing is that there must be public input, these items are not routine in nature and do not belong on the consent agenda, the appointment of Police Chief Reyna should have been a public item, congratulated Ray Reyna on his appointment, he is asking for an update on Deanza Court, how Mr. Pinheiro you do nothing but look down and do not look at anyone speaking, he faults the city council not Mr. Pinheiro as he does not have the experience and urged them too stop putting these things on the consent agenda; UNNAMED PERSON, commends Deborah Lewis for what she does, he don’t feel it is fair with the way she is treated, its snarky, unclear to what is going on, feels that like a group of leaders have a responsibility to make sure she is treated fairly regardless of different of opinions, let her know what is going on, the ARPA funds there was never a scoring system shown and he honestly believes that Graciano deserved the full amount, how it’s confusing and how it was lowered by 2 council members to allow for more awards, there’s not much control and everything is not being disclosed to the public, causing a lot of confusion, he is asking for more transparency and more leadership; ROY TODD, Los Banos Chamber of Commerce, spoke regarding the past and upcoming events, annual Christmas parade, item 6 on the consent agenda and offered Ray Reyna his congratulations, upcoming Veterans Parade, how he likes to solve problems and one thing he thinks we can do is have a State of the City or Town Meeting so that some of these things can be addressed and work our way through the important things, and maybe the Chamber can help sponsor such type of thing; BLANCHE JORGE, lives downtown, on a personal note she knew him as a young boy, he and his father have been genuine people, speaking as an Elk Member and how everyone came together for the pet Halloween event and how great it was, star of the show was the animal shelter, thanked the Animal Shelter staff for all they do and how the Elks are purchasing food the with funds raised and collars available, noted that she had a partner on this event who couldn’t be here with her, and thanked the Council as she really appreciates each and every one of you. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Mayor Llanez stated that he would like to remove item 7E – City Council Resolution No. 6703 – Approving a Professional Services Agreement for Interim Finance Director Services with Brent Kuhn from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Council Member Lewis stated that she would like to remove items 7E – City Council Resolution No. 6703 – Approving a Professional Services Agreement for Interim Finance Director Services with Brent Kuhn, Item 7F – City Council Resolution No. 6704 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the General Fund Maintenance Account in the Amount of $12,214 for the Expenditure of a Backhoe/Tractor Attachment, and Item 7H – City Council Resolution No. 6706 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the Measure H Account in the Amount of $94,470 for the Expenditure of the Installation of Four Playgrounds from the consent agenda for separate consideration and vote. Interim Finance Director Kuhn left the City Council Meeting. Item 7E - City Council Resolution No. 6703 – Approving a Professional Services Agreement for Interim Finance Director Services with Brent Kuhn. Mayor Llanez referred to the City Attorney Vaughn regarding SB5 for which he stated that it is not as simple as it was stated at the podium, there is a number of tests that need to be considered to determine if someone is an independent contractor vs employee, i.e. degree of supervision, more specialized and more education required that is a big factor, mentioned other independent contractors that the city has, how this is not unusual, he has other clients and other businesses, permanence of the position is considered and this is interim, multifactor analysis, there are other small cities that have a contract for these types of services as well, and he is comfortable with the agreement. Mayor Llanez stated that BWK LLC agreement that was actually brought to Council was signed by former City Manager Wellman and City Attorney Vaughn explained the relationship the City has with Mr. Kuhn, how he didn’t realize what was going on with his LLC, rules about LLC conducting businesses and it is not a fraudulent contract, it just gives the city the ability to void the contract. Council Member Lewis inquired as to an explanation from the City Manager for item 2 which City Manager Pinheiro explained and City Attorney Vaughn further explained further how the new agreement will work. Council Member Lewis stated that under the scope of services it is more expansive than before and is the same as the job specification for Finance Director for which City Attorney Vaughn stated that would be typical of an employee but not a contractor and not the types of things to put in an independent contractor agreement. Council Member Lewis stated that we have a lot of job openings on our city website and some job openings approved with the city budget and inquired as to if we released a job announcement for a Finance Director for which City Manager Pinheiro stated that when he came to work with Mr. Kuhn, he has enjoyed working with him and feels it is a good fit to continue to collaborate with him and continue our relationship with him. Council Member Lewis inquired as to if there are any plans to put out an announcement for which City Manager Pinheiro stated no. Council Member Lewis spoke to her concerns with what we have paid him so far and the cost of the new contract, how every employee of the city is building a retirement and we are keeping on someone is not a regular staff member, how he is not accessible to our staff here in our office in our city, how it seems unfortunate to me that there has been a double down here to not look to hire someone into our city, she has concerns with his invoices and wonders why we are paying more than what is billed for which City Attorney Vaughn responded that he took a quick look at the invoices and the invoices itemizes hours and travel expenses and everything seems okay, he contract approved tonight will pay for only hours not travel expenses. Council Member Lewis feels that the travel time needed to be itemized and we are way pass due to hire a full-time person as there is a need for a full- time employee, not sure why the city manager won’t put out an announcement, as Mr. Kuhn was supposed to be temporary and is turning into something that is more permanent and she has concerns as this this is a very important position. Council Member Jones stated that her argument doesn’t hold water, looking at the south bay there are cities that don’t even have a police department, we contract with our city attorney and if he retires we’ll contract with another one, he feels government does not breed creativity and you want to get rid of our quarterback who redid our investments, gave increases to our first responders, this is the more modern solution and we don’t have options for qualified applicants, this is a solution for now and fixes the problems for now, and a cleanup job by Josh. Council Member Lambert stated that we are just cleaning up a contract, he pulled the item off the consent agenda, noting year end investments he has increased by 28%, how he didn’t see none of that with our previous Finance Director, he doesn’t believe there is a time limit for a contract employee, who are we going to find, fiscal impact is what we are impacted each month with this contract, what if we brought him on as fulltime employee, it would be twice as month. Council Member Lewis defended comments directed at her, noting that finance is increased because interest is up higher now because we are making more money, our previous finance person did a great job and you really need to look at apples to apples. Council Member Jones stated hat he feels she has a personal vendetta against Mr. Kuhn and that she attacks our staff at every meeting, how she doesn’t understand, that she is colluding with the local newspaper, you only try to manipulate the truth, every meeting you have to pull something off the agenda. Council Member Lewis wants to let the public know that she pulls things off because everything is on the consent agenda and she doesn’t have communication with anybody and this is her only way to find out what is going on in the city. Mayor Llanez stated that looking at this from a business standpoint, you can’t replace knowledge especially when it comes to strategic financial operations, he spoke to the previous finance director and their way of doing things, how Mr. Kuhn said we have money we just need to program it correctly, is a no brainer, Mr. Kuhn has an amazing reputation across the state, I don’t care where my CFO works, he goes with what city staff thinks and he hasn’t heard a negative response from anyone about he considers this a cleanup contract. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Jones to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6703 – Approving a Professional Services Agreement for Interim Finance Director Services with Brent Kuhn. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Begonia, Jones, Lambert, Llanez; NOES: Lewis; ABSENT: None. Interim Finance Director Kuhn returned to the City Council Meeting. Item 7F - City Council Resolution No. 6704 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the General Fund Maintenance Account in the Amount of $12,214 for the Expenditure of a Backhoe/Tractor Attachment. Council Member Lewis inquired as to when the date of service was and breakdown of the invoice for which Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim explained the purchase, invoice, and timing of the placing the order immediately upon approval of the budget, and how the funds will come from the general fund reserves. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Begonia to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6704 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023- 2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the General Fund Maintenance Account in the Amount of $12,214 for the Expenditure of a Backhoe/Tractor Attachment. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. Item 7H – City Council Resolution No. 6706 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the Measure H Account in the Amount of $94,470 for the Expenditure of the Installation of Four Playgrounds. Council Member Lewis inquired as to where will the money will come from for which Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim explained that Measure H reserve funds will cover this and Interim Finance Direction Kuhn expanded more on the funding to be provided. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Begonia to adopt City Council Resolution No. 6706 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the Measure H Account in the Amount of $94,470 for the Expenditure of the Installation of Four Playgrounds. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. Motion by Jones, seconded by Jones to approve the consent agenda as follows, as amended: Check Register for #241449 - #241667 in the Amount of $867,920.46; Minutes for the September 6, 2023 City Council Meeting; Minutes for the October 4, 2023 City Council Meeting; City Council Resolution No. 6702 – Approving Closure of Non-Essential City Offices on Tuesday, December 26, 2023 Due to the Christmas Holiday Season; City Council Resolution No. 6703 – Approving a Professional Services Agreement for Interim Finance Director Services with Brent Kuhn; City Council Resolution No. 6704 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the General Fund Maintenance Account in the Amount of $12,214 for the Expenditure of a Backhoe/Tractor Attachment; City Council Resolution No. 6705 – Ratifying the City Manager’s Approval of the Employment Agreement with Police Chief Reymundo M. Reyna, Jr.; City Council Resolution No. 6706 – Amending the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Budget by Increasing the Appropriation Amount in the Measure H Account in the Amount of $94,470 for the Expenditure of the Installation of Four Playgrounds. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. Mayor Llanez congratulated Ray Reyna on his Police Chief appointment. PUBLIC HEARING – TO RECEIVE PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSIDERATION OF AN UPDATE TO THE LOS BANOS ZONING MAP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOS BANOS GENERAL PLAN UPDATE 2042 THAT WAS ADOPTED OCTOBER 19, 2022. THE ZONING MAP UPDATE IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA PURSUANT TO CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15162, 15168, 15183, AND 15061(B)(3). THE PROPOSED UPDATE IS ENTIRELY CONSISTENT WITH AND IMPLEMENTS THE GENERAL PLAN LAND USES ESTABLISHED IN THE GENERAL PLAN, FOR WHICH AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (EIR) (SCH #2022010254) WAS PREPARED AND CERTIFIED; ORDINANCE NO. 1203 – AMENDING THE OFFICIAL ZONING MAP IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOS BANOS GENERAL PLAN UPDATE 2042 (FIRST READING & INTRODUCTION). Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms presented the staff report, which included a PowerPoint presentation. Mayor Llanez opened the public hearing. Blanche Jorge, lives in the downtown area, spoke regarding how changes always happen, she knows that our Community & Economic Development Director Souza has worked very hard with design standards, and to please consider that the authentic buildings that are part of downtown fit within the parameter of the downtown. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. Council Member Jones stated that this is a non-routine item so that’s why it is not on the consent agenda. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to waive the first reading of Ordinance No. 1203 – Amending the Official Zoning Map in Accordance with the Los Banos General Plan Update 2042. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. Motion by Jones, seconded by Lambert to introduce Ordinance No. 1203 – Amending the Official Zoning Map in Accordance with the Los Banos General Plan Update 2042. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Begonia, Jones, Lambert, Lewis, Llanez; NOES: None; ABSENT: None. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (Three Reports). Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms reported that there will be three public hearings at the November 8, 2023 Planning Commission Meeting to consider a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and a Mobile Food Vendor Permit #2023-09 to allow the operation of a mobile food vending vehicle on route throughout the City of Los Banos within the public-right-of way for Ramon Huerta dba California Del Sur, Conditional Use Permit #2023-09 and a Categorical Exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Section 15301, Existing Facilities, to allow the use of a Type 41 Alcohol License for the on-sale of Beer and Wine for a bona-fide eating place, Biggins Texas BBQ, located at 609 I St., more specifically identified as Assessor's Parcel Number 025-231-019, Site Plan Review #2023-05 for the development of a 1,275 sq. ft. commercial structure with drive-thru and associated site improvements. This project was previously evaluated in the Los Banos Home Depot (SCH #2005041010) Mitigated Negative Declaration which was approved by the Los Banos Planning Commission on May 11, 2005. The project is located within the Highway Commercial Zoning District at 2101 E. Pacheco Blvd., more specifically identified as Assessor's Parcel Number: 083- 140-030. CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro spoke regarding the Trick or Treat event last Saturday at the Ag Sports Complex and thanked Interim Parks & Recreation Director Heim and all the staff that put that together, it was a well-attended event and a really great time; how G Street just got paved right in front of the new Police Station, Birch Street is getting paved, the Police Annex building is getting repainted, trees are getting trimmed, new playground at Gardens Park, Ray Reyna was promoted today to Police Chief with his swearing in ceremony being held on November 3rd at 3 pm along with the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Police Station earlier that day at 11 am, and on Saturday is the Veterans Day parade. REPORT/UPDATE ON MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF GOVERNMENTS (MCAG), PENINSULA CLEAN ENERGY (PCE), MEASURE V COMMITTEE, AND SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT (SJVAPCD), AND LOS BANOS DOWNTOWN PROPERTY & BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (LBDPBID). Council Member Lewis stated that effective November 1st residential wood burning guidelines goes into effect and you will need to check before you burn, you can also check online at valleyair.org fire place inserts gas/electric and they also offers grants for lawn care for 0 emission equipment. Mayor Llanez stated that MCAG has three Los Banos traffic projects that he is super happy about and have been chosen to move on to the next phase which has been needed for a very long time and thanked city staff for the efforts to make this happen; and to PCE how they are nearing the conclusion of the special committee for disbursement of the extra funds and hoping to give it back to our community somehow. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS BRETT JONES: Stated that he would like to apologize for veering off topic earlier, he shared his thoughts on the importance of the media delivering accurate and impartial information for the benefit of the public, speaking to how the publisher and editor of the Westside Express has exhibited a personal bias against the City Manager and some Council Members, how the sentiment seems to be shared by a Council Member over on the far side as well, how they only highlight the shortcoming and not the positive stuff that is going on in the city, and congratulated Ray Reyna on his promotion to Police Chief. DEBORAH LEWIS: Gave her congratulations to Commander Reymundo Reyna, Jr. to Police Chief an exemplary employee, he was also the Acting Fire Chief, well rounded well knowledgably person, without questions he is the wone for this job. KENNETH LAMBERT: Congratulated Mr. Reyna look forward to seeing you out there, apologized to Ms. Lewis we get a little too agitated and I will keep it cordial next time, encouraged the audience to check out other meetings on youtube and watch how they conduct themselves on the meetings, there are consent items and agenda items, we hire a city manager who hires department heads who we rely on to do their jobs, he wants his tax dollars to go to the right places too, you have to spend money to get money, we all get the packet at the same time on Friday afternoon and can ask questions, items are put on the consent agenda to speed up meetings, our job is to basically policy and procedures and try to make sure everything is spent correctly, compares our process to what the Unites States process is, we are all out to make sure we are spending money wisely and looks at the fiscal impact, we are well above out 30%, our city has got to take care of business to run in an efficient manner, we do what we can up here to keep this city running and were doing a pretty darn good job. DOUGLAS BEGONIA, JR.: Congratulated Ray Reyna on his promotion, well deserved, congratulations to Interim Parks & Recreation Director Hiem on another great Halloween event, spoke regarding how we definitely need to listen to what each other says and we were all voted to be up here and we need to respect each other. PAUL LLANEZ: Stated that he appreciates the apologies, the end goal is what is best for the city, understands the frustration, a little miscommunication on our roles, we are to gather information and vote on it with the information given to us tonight, kept hearing about transparency and he’s only had one person speak with him, if you want to sit down and talk to me about how to we can fix things I’m all for that, spoke to how busy Interim Parks & Recreation Director Hiem has been and the fantastic work on the Halloween event, the church events on Halloween, how the common goal is that we are doing what is best for the city, ad he is absolutely thrilled that Ray Reyna is the new Police Chief. ADJOURNMENT. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Jones, the meeting was adjourned at 813 p.m. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. APPROVED: /s/ Paul Llanez_____________ Paul Llanez, Mayor ATTEST: /s/ Lucille L. Mallonee_________ Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk