City Council Meeting

CITY OF LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES JANUARY 2, 2025 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 Amabile called the City Council Meeting to order at the hour of 6:01 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Acting Police Chief Melden led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL – MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Kenneth Lambert – District 1, Deborah Lewis – District 4, Mayor Michael Amabile, District 2 – vacant, District 3 – vacant; ABSENT: None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Acting Police Chief Melden, City Attorney Vaughn, City Manager Pinheiro, City Clerk/Human Resources Director Mallonee, City Treasurer Lawrence, Community & Economic Development Director Souza Elms, Parks & Recreation Director Heim, Public Works Director/City Engineer Bergson CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Lambert, seconded by Lewis to approve the agenda as submitted. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT: Council Members Kenneth Lambert, Deborah Lewis, Mayor Michael S. Amabile; District 2 – vacant, District 3 – vacant. Absent: None. PRESENTATIONS – CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION – EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR DECEMBER 2024 – JENNIFER LOA, HOMELESS OUTREACH COORDINATOR / COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. Mayor Amabile presented the Employee of the Month certificate to Jennifer Loa who was present 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 Amabile invited the public to come forward to speak. ANTHONY ALONZO, P G & E Representative, introduced himself and spoke to electric and gas rates and what effects the rates, how he looks forward to coming back to Council to give updates on what is happening in Los Banos and the surrounding area, he will reach out to the City Manager and staff to set up meetings; BLANCHE JORGE, lives in the downtown area, spoke to how our city has progressed when it comes to our animals, thanks to our Police Department and support from other City departments, spoke to the grants and services they have provided, the animal shelter and all the great things happening out there, all the hard work the staff is doing, asked the Mayor and Council to continue to support and make sure we have funding to continue the progress we are making, how important it is to do things for the animals up front with the special events and the importance of dog licensing. No one else came forward to speak and the public forum was closed. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA. Motion by Lewis, seconded by Lambert to approve the consent agenda as follows: Check Register for #249056 – #249355 in the Amount of $2,301,280.60; Minutes for the December 18, 2024 City Council Meeting. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. CONSIDERATION OF NEXT STEPS IN FILLING THE LOS BANOS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER VACANCIES IN DISTRICTS 2 & 3. City Attorney Vaughn presented the staff report. Council Member Lambert feels in order to get this done a little quicker, he likes Alternative 1, as there are only 3 of us, we can eliminate and possible pick on the first vote, doesn’t like having to worry about 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice and having points, likes having to pick one and maybe we pick the same and move on from there. Mayor Amabile stated that the issue that he thought about is the district that has 7 people applying for it, you are trying to get the number down to a manageable number, he thinks that the district that has 4 to do the rating, and the district with 7 to rate them by points to bring the number down to 4 and then continue on with that. The 3-2-1 points was done last time and it is really important that we decide what will happen if it is a tie, pick a name out of a hat or flip a coin. Mr. Lambert wondered if we can vote a different way with the larger group for which City Attorney Vaughn responded that there is no standard way of doing this, these alternatives pull together what other cities have done and what the Los Banos has done it the past, you can choose one of these alternatives or change it up, just remember whatever you do the ballots will be public and it takes a minimum of 2 votes to select one of the applicants, in terms of a tie to repeat the voting process until an applicant is chosen. Mr. Amabile that for the district that has 7, we would each vote for 1 person and the chances that we vote a different people is high. Mayor Pro Tem Lewis stated that Alternative 3 seems to be the most reasonable and equitable for both groups. Mr. Lambert still wants Alternative 1. Mr. Vaughn stated that he’s not sure Alternative 3 will work for the 4 applicants and explains why. Ms. Lewis suggested changing the number to be brought forward be changed to 3 instead of 4 after the first vote. Mr. Amabile added that he is more partial to Alternative 3 and change the number to go to round 2 to be 3 candidates. Ms. Lewis stated that we need to clarify tonight so we don’t hassle on the night of interviews and Mr. Amabile agrees that we need to decide tonight how we are going to vote. Mr. Vaughn stated that from what he is hearing, Mr. Lambert likes Alternative 1, Ms. Lewis likes Alternative 3, and Mr. Amabile like Alternative 3; and that Alternative 3 will work if you change the number that goes to round 2 from 4 to 3. Mr. Amabile inquired as to what happens if there is a tie and Mr. Vaughn explained that we may need to wait to decide on how to break a tie until we get there, as there are many variations as to how this could work out. In review, Mr. Vaughn stated that it looks like Alternative 3 is the process we will use with the change from 4 to 3 people that go to the second round and he will have the Alternative ready if you need to make a change. Mr. Lambert stated that he doesn’t think we will have a tie with Alternative 1 and explained why; he would like to Alternative 1 for the small group and Alternative 3 for the large group as he feels Alternative 1 is the easier one and how he doesn’t feel that the point system will work and explained his reasoning for wanting to use Alternative 1. Mr. Vaughn asked how much time you wanted to allow for each applicant, is 15 minutes the amount of time you want to allow for each. Ms. Lewis stated that 2 minutes for each question plus up to 5-minute intro for each candidate works for her. Mr. Lambert stated that allowing up to 3 minutes for intro would be he suggestion. By consensus it was decided to allow 3 minutes for intro and 2 minutes for each question, for a total of 15 minutes for each candidate. Mr. Amabile asked when the candidates would be sworn in; for which City Clerk Mallonee stated that we have sworn appointed candidates in the past the same night and she can prepare the agenda so that the are sworn in after the process is over and made note that this meeting tonight will be adjourned to the interview date instead of having to call a special meeting. APPOINTMENT OF COMMISSIONERS TO THE FOLLOWING COMMISSION: PLANNING COMMISSION; ONE (1) FOUR (4) YEAR TERM IN DISTRICT 1 – EXPIRING DECEMBER 31, 2028. Motion by Lambert, seconded by Lewis, to appoint Christopher Perrecone to the Planning Commission for District 1 for a Four (4) Year Term Expiring December 31, 2028. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. ADVISEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICES. (No Report). CITY MANAGER REPORT. City Manager Pinheiro hoped everyone had a happy holiday and New Year. 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). Ms. Lewis stated that at the last SJVAPCD they recognized employees under the STAR system and explained what that was all about and thinks it a wonderful thing and would like to see something like that happen for our City employees in the future, each year the SJVAPCD board puts out a calendar with drawings from children and one was from Merced County for the month of March, how she would like to attend our School Board meeting and encourage our school children to submit drawings for the calendar so that Los Banos can be chosen in the future, spoke to the SJVAPCD appropriations received for class 6 and class 7 zero truck emissions and the many jurisdictions that put in proposals and received the matching grant, spoke regarding the Bus grants for zero emission and all the monies that have been expended and hopefully more funds will become available. Mr. Amabile stated that the next MCAG meeting is on January 6, 2025, with PCE later in January, along with Measure V and making note that he was on the Measure V Committee and the City will need to find someone to take his place. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS: DISTRICT 2: Vacant DISTRICT 3: Vacant KENNETH LAMBERT – DISTRICT 1: Congratulated Jennifer Loa on being recognized as Employee of the Month, thanked all the department heads for last year as we got a lot done, condolences to the traffic deaths on New Year’s Day in New Orleans. DEBORAH LEWIS – DISTRICT 4: Reported that on January 11, 2024 Mid Valley Disposal will be having its Annual Fall Clean Up event and spoke to all that is being accepted, how she had the opportunity to attend Coco with the Popo and it was a really nice event and thanked our Police Department with the continued community outreach. MICHAEL S. AMABILE – MAYOR: Wished all a happy New Year and hopes 2025 will be a good year for our city and residents, even though there are only two Council Meetings a month there are a lot of other meetings going on with staff and other agencies, now we will be adjourning this meeting to January 8, 2025 to interview and choose two new Council Members and wish all them all the best. CLOSED SESSION – CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.6, AGENCY DESIGNATED REPRESENTATIVES: CITY MANAGER PINHEIRO, CITY ATTORNEY VAUGHN, HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR MALLONEE, LEGAL COUNSEL TUFFO; EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS: LOS BANOS POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (LBPOA), LOS BANOS POLICE SERGEANTS ASSOCIATION (LBPSA), LOS BANOS FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION (LBFFA), LOS BANOS POLICE DISPATCHERS/COMMUNITY SERVICES OFFICERS ASSOCIATION (LBPDCSOA), LOS BANOS PUBLIC EMPLOYEES UNION (PUBLIC WORKS) LOCAL 1/AFSCME, LOS BANOS POLICE MIDDLE MANAGERS ASSOCIATION (LBPMMA) AND UNREPRESENTED MISCELLANEOUS EMPLOYEES. Advisement to staff only, no reportable action. ADJOURNMENT. The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 8, 2025 to Conduct Interviews for Filling the Los Banos City Council Member Vacancies in Districts 2 & 3. The motion carried by the affirmative action of all Council Members present. APPROVED: __/s/ Michael S. Amabile________ Michael S. Amabile, Mayor ATTEST: __/s/ Lucille L. Mallonee___________ Lucille L. Mallonee, City Clerk