City Council — 2026-07-28

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Okay, good evening. I now call to order the July 28th 2026 regular and special closed session of the City Council of the City of Commerce. Mr. City Clerk could you please call

roll? Thank You Mr. Mayor, council members Reboyo Council Member Argumelo. Here. Council Member Altamirano.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Here.

And Mayor Glaines. Here You have quorum, Mr. Mayor. Perfect thank

you okay so now we will move on to public comment. Mr. City Clerk do we have any public

comment? We did not receive any public comment for this portion of the meeting Mr. Mayor.

Okay great so now we will recess to closed session. City Clerk Sarmiento could you please recess us to

closed session? Yes, I'd be glad to Mr. Mayor thank you uh we will be recessing for conference with legal counsel pursuant to government code sections 54956.9d section 2 and e2 regarding anticipated and potential litigation of two cases and the second item listed is pursuant to government code 54956.8 the city council will confer With its real property negotiator City Manager Ernie Hernandez with respect to real estate negotiations regarding 6051 Telegraph Road, APN 6336-017-018 and property located at 5736 East Washington Boulevard.

APN number 6334-006-900 and lastly property located at 5733 Sheila Street, Commerce California. APN number 6334-006-901. Okay

thank you for that Mr. City Clerk and the city council will now recess to closed session. Thank you Mr. Mayor

you Music playing This is the first time I've seen this. Music playing Oh Music playing.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. The City Council will now reconvene from closed session. Attorney Tapia could you please provide your report?

Certainly Mr. Mayor with all five members of the City Council being present the City Council met in closed session discussed the following item number one there was one case that was discussed not to just one city staff made a presentation City Council provided direction no final reportable action was taken with respect to item number two the property listed at number 16051 Telegraph Grove That property was not discussed. The City Council discussed only the properties listed under number two, which is 5736 East Washington and 5733 Sheila Street. City staff made a presentation. City Council provided direction. No final reportable action was taken. And that concludes my report out of closed session. Thank you.

Great, thank you Mr. City Attorney. I now call to order the July 28th 2026 Special Concurrent Joint Meetings of the City Council of the City of Commerce, Joint Powers Financing Authority and the Governing Body of the Successor Agency for the Commerce Community Development Commission. Will the city

You have quorum, Mr. Mayor.

Great, thank you for that. Mr. City Clerk, at this time I ask the crowd to

Heavenly Father, we ask for your continued guidance and direction.

And we ask that you continue to guide us and direct us in making the best possible decisions for the betterment of our community. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Thank you both. At this time we'll go ahead and move on to appearances and presentations, and we have Cal Water in the building. Good evening Jim and Kim. So it is a very important occasion. Today we're going to recognize Cal Water's 100 years of service. Cal Water, I just want to communicate and say that I really appreciate the work that you've done here in the community. I also appreciate how present you've been right whenever we needed someone to partner with us on an event or a community related situation. You're always willing to step in whether it's Thanksgiving turkey giveaway or National Night Out Congratulations on 100 years of service. It's a great milestone, and I have a proclamation to read. So this is a proclamation in recognition of Cal Water's hundred years of service Whereas it is a tradition of the City of Commerce to recognize and honor businesses and organizations that have demonstrated in unwavering commitment to serving our community and contributing to the quality of life of our residents.

And whereas California Water Service, also known as CalWater was founded in 1926 and has served communities throughout California for 100 years providing safe clean and reliable water to more than 2 million people statewide And whereas Cal Water has been a trusted partner to the City of Commerce since 1928, delivering essential water services guided by its promise to provide quality service and value.

Whereas Cal Water has demonstrated exemplary stewardship through conservation programs and rebates that have helped customers reduce water use by 30% between 2000 and 2020 supporting both environmental sustainability and household affordability. And whereas Cal Water has invested responsibly in infrastructure, sustainability initiatives and community well-being through proactive maintenance and system upgrades that help deliver safe clean drinking water and improve emergency readiness. Whereas Cal Water has been recognized by Newsweek as one of America's most responsible companies and one of the world's most trustworthy companies And has also been certified as a great place to work, reflecting the company's commitment to protecting the planet, caring for people and operating with integrity.

And whereas through generations of employees and leadership, Cal Water has maintained its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for customers in communities, creating jobs, supporting the local economy and engaging with community organizations in neighborhoods throughout California. Now, therefore be it resolved that the Mayor and the members of the City Council of the City of Commerce do hereby congratulate California Water Service on the momentous occasion of its 100th anniversary and extend our sincere appreciation for 100 years of dedicated service and for its continued commitment to providing safe clean and reliable water to our community.

Passed and adopted this 28th day of July 2026 signed by myself the mayor as well as all members of the Commerce City Council Congratulations. And we do have a proclamation to give you and we'd love for you to come up and take a picture, but do either of you want to say any words?

Thank you Mayor Lienes. It's an honor to be here and honored to be recognized by you and the rest of the City Council. Like you mentioned for us, we're proud to be in this community. We're proud to provide good clean reliable water to the city. And we're proud to have partners like yourself that really is in the community just the same so we're honored to be side-by-side at work with you guys but We are 98 years here in the City of Commerce, and we're pretty close to our 100 year for us. And we were the third district in the company to be established. So I'm proud to be here with you. Thank you for the recognition and also proud to serve the community that actually grew up in Hilo. It's an honor so thank you so much for your kind words and thank you for the recognition.

Absolutely, it's our pleasure. Thank you and I know Jim Crocker, Kimberly Caballero thank you both for being here tonight and if you don't mind just coming up and taking a picture with the City Council with the proclamations, I'd appreciate that. Please stand by.

Thank you.

Okay, congratulations again to Cal Water on 100 years and cheers to 100 more. Okay, so now we'll go ahead and move on to the second appearance and presentation. That's a presentation on Home for Heroes. We have our Community Development Director Jessica Serrano here presenting today.

Thank you Mayor Elenis. Good evening Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council. I'm Jessica Serrano your Community Development Director and I'm delighted to make a presentation to City Council tonight regarding the launch of the Homes for Hero program. Next slide. The program launched on Monday, July 27th this week. And we'll be accepting applications through September 28, 2026.

The outreach activities for the program include that we've distributed print distribution flyers at the city facilities, at East LA Veterans Clinic located here in Commerce and we also did direct mail to known veterans That are living here in the city of commerce. We also did social media posts on Facebook and Instagram. I'd like to thank Kat and the team for working on that diligently.

And their support with the program launch next slide. Now to provide some details on the program. The program was approved by City Council on May 12, 2026. The target population is low-income veteran households. They must be current Commerce residents to qualify. And the assistance that will be provided to them includes short-term rental assistance of up to $1,500 a month for a minimum of 6 months.

The households themselves are responsible for paying 20% towards their income towards the rent. And just the budget. For the program at 71,126. This will allow us to help approximately 9 veteran households. The table on the side on the to the right of this slide shows what the income qualifications are depending I encourage the community to visit our website for more information. We have a QR code to the website.

We also have our consultants on standby waiting to receive calls and if there's any questions about the program, and we're also available in person at City Hall. Visit us at counter three and we can walk through our applicants through the process So please spread the word about the program, refer any veterans that may qualify and we're happy to assist them.

This concludes my presentation I'm available for any questions.

Thank you for that Director Serrano does the City Council have any questions or comments?

Just a quick follow-up. I believe when it was first presented to us, there was a question about did we look into if this would affect any other programs that veterans were already getting assistance for? I

don't remember. What we did as part of the guidelines is we excluded, we indicated that if they're already receiving that assistance like for example Section 8, they wouldn't be able to apply because it could interfere with that benefit.

And because this is only for six months, right?

Yes.

Thank you.

Great question, Councilwoman. Anybody else? Mayor Pro Tem.

Hi Jessica. I know that you mentioned that you reached out to the city residents. Did we include everyone that's on the banner program? That's exactly the list that we used. Perfect.

Thank you.

Great question, Mayor Pro Tem. I don't see any other questions or comments. Director Serrano thank you so much for presenting today. I know this is something that got improved in mid-May so for it to be rolled out within a couple of months that's pretty quick right for the municipal space so really appreciate you and the team and everybody involved to get this rolled out I'm a firm believer and I know the City Council are firm believers in being able to serve and support those who serve this country, right? So I think this is a great way to do that. And it's something I think we're all proud of so again thank you for your hard work on this and looking forward to the next update. Thank you. Take care.

Okay, great. That concludes appearances and presentations so now we will go ahead and move on to public comment. Mr. City Clerk do we have any speakers?

Thank you Mr. Mayor. We did not receive any speaker cards at this time.

And I believe we have a gentleman right here filling out a card right now. While he does that, I'll just read that at this time members of the public who wish to

Information is stored in a catalog for criminal, prosecution and law enforcement use only. If you witness for the citizens and anybody watching this stream, if you ever witness a suspicious person and or vehicle in the immediate vicinity of a camera system trailer please phone call 911 immediately. Please indicate to the 911 operator that you suspect vandalism and or tampering if it's suitable.

It's a terrible known fact that these camera systems are often targeted for vandalism nationwide These three trailers are in the locations of, in the area of Washington and Eastern. Another one near 5600 Sheila Street and a third one off of Cool and Gage. They're being monitored 24-7 for security. In regards to a couple concerns raised, we are working on the heat map of catalytic and vehicle thefts by reporting district that will be presented along with the crime statistics which is the first presentation of every month.

In regards to drones...next slide A brief summary. In 2026, the Downey City Council did vote 5-0 to entrust city police to use drones to patrol neighborhoods over the Fourth of July holiday. The vote also approved additional fines for parties that host and spectators watching the illegal fireworks. The codes were enforced by police and upheld by the city's prosecutor.

Both hosts and spectators of unlawful fireworks were fined the same as those who possess or discharge dangerous fireworks. Those penalties there began at $4,000. That day, July 4th, the Downing Police responded to 70 calls. Of those 70 calls, the drones accurately documented illegal activity, citations were charged to responsible party and 18 violations were backed by proof for prosecution.

The Sheriff's Department, along with the Public Safety Division here at City of Commerce met about this drone program. And there are still going to be ongoing meetings. What we learned is one, the cost of the program and the availability that it is to us now. And additionally, the number of resources personnel that are going to be required to enforce it. At this time, there's plans to use The city team deputies to operate that drone system when it comes into effect. This way there's no changes in personnel needed at the time.

Another concern was an incident at the library, at the Bandini Library. The public safety division manager and I met. We discussed the incident that I had learned of at this time of the concern, and those matters or those details of what occurred were addressed. In summary it's not so much where the card failed in regards to how to combat crime effectively for the City of Commerce. It's the human part of it whether it's the deputy personnel, the dispatch center I always support the victim and the informant but they are also you know continuing to learn all Elements or requirements that are needed to best follow up on a call and get full service. Again, step seven of this card is the resource from me to provide feedback and follow-up including reprimands and those require an email so if there's ever a concern about a single incident And you don't have a resolution to what occurred, please just go down to step seven and it has instructions for that.

The dispatch center at East L.A. has been going into an improvement Improvement phase, I've talked to the unit commander about some of the concerns that are raised and some of my own personal anecdotes that I've had with the dispatch center. And there is a trend moving forward. To support the dispatch center they do receive upwards to 400 or 500 calls a day and they dispatch anywhere between 250 to 300 daily and nightly.

And there is no excuse or room for error, but at times if one or two calls are not addressed properly the card does indicate how to get successful effective solution during that time. Not later or after a concern, it's during the time of an incident how to reach back out to the dispatch center and make a point to prove that you need deputies to respond. One that will not fail you is 9-1-1. You call 9- 1-1, that line is always recorded and that call for service is put out in an emergent manner.

Next slide or this slide? This slide again just shows the upcoming public safety follow up card. It's a card that It's a follow-up request card that can be used by citizens or anybody with concerns in regards for me to follow up on a request for detectives, a request for more service at an area that didn't get fully served. At the time that we presented this last meeting, I received one in the back and right away serviced it the next day. And the citizen returned a phone call saying she appreciated it and how easy it was to use the cart. So this will be printed once it's finalized. This is still the draft. It'll be available at the Public Safety Division office.

Thank you. Any questions?

Thank you for your presentation, Sargent. Does the City Council have any questions?

Thank

you, Sarge.

Appreciate

your

follow-up

on some of these items that we had

brought up from last minute.

Thank you for the presentation, Sergeant. Certainly echoing my colleague's sentiments there. I know you're going to report more on statistics next meeting. Just a reminder about the ALPR numbers as well. Just interested in seeing what that's yielding as far as arrests and prosecutions if we can get that as well. But again thank you for the work and we'll see you and the team at National Night Out next Tuesday. Yes sir.

Okay, so let's go ahead and

Yes, sir. Good evening honorable mayor members of the City Council tonight we are recommending approval of an agreement with point and pay to modernize the city's electronic payment processing platform. The proposed solution will significantly expand payment options available to our residents and customers Next slide, please. So why are we recommending this change? Well, our current payment platform has served the city well for many years. However it no longer provides the functionality expected from a modern government payment solution.

In addition to limited customer payment options like I mentioned earlier the City currently absorbs approximately $100,000 each year in merchant processing costs primarily associated with development and permitting activities. What we're proposing is going with a modern payment platform that has expanded payment options while again generating some significant general fund savings.

We would implement a customer paid convenience fee for certain transactions including building permits, plan check fees, planning applications, engineering permits and other miscellaneous fees. I'd like to note that electronic payments for recreation programs, classes and other recreation related activities would remain exempt from these changes. Okay? Next slide.

So the city conducted a competitive procurement process that included both written proposals, written proposal evaluations and live product demonstration. A committee composed of finance, accounting and IT staff evaluated the proposals and the demonstrations Point and pay received the highest overall score based on technical capabilities, their implementation approach security functionality and overall value to the city. Next slide please Point and Pay specifically, they specialize exclusively in payment solutions for government agencies.

And they'll support expanding payment options along with additional options like email and text notifications and receipts. And that's all done within the highest security levels. We're anticipating that the implementation and onboarding will take approximately 60 to 90 days to go live. And also beyond just simply replacing our current processor, this provides us with a scalable payment platform that can continue to expand as additional needs are identified in the future.

Next slide. A key component of this proposal is transitioning from a city-paid merchant fee model to a customer paid convenience fee model for development permitting and other miscellaneous fees. Again, this will not apply to Parks and Rec programs But this convenience fee that will be assessed by point and pay is a flat fee of $1.50 for transactions that are $55 or less, and a 2.75% fee on transactions that are greater than $55. So for example, a $52 transaction would be charged the $1 50 while a $100 transaction would be charged about $2.75.

The city will not receive any portion of the convenience fee as that's retained by point and pay to cover the cost of processing electronic payments. One last thing that I'd like to highlight here is that we surveyed surrounding cities, and the vast majority of cities charge a convenience fee at an average of about 3%. So we would be right below the average charge.

Okay next slide. In addition to improving customer service, this recommendation is expected to reduce approximately $100,000 in processing expenditures. And Point and Pay has also agreed to waive several implementation costs resulting in only one additional terminal purchase by the City for $400 only. Last slide. In closing, this recommendation modernizes the City's payment processing platform, expands electronic payment options, improves security and reporting capabilities. And again reduces some costs for us and provides a scalable solution that can support additional city services in the future.

Staff recommends approval and I would be more than happy to answer any questions the Mayor and the City Council may have.

Great, thank you for the presentation. Director Castellon does the City Council have any questions? Councilwoman Ravoni?

Just for clarification purposes and I may have missed it. I'm trying to understand where... You said the city would gain approximately I'm trying to understand where the financial benefit is for the city if the convenience fee, we don't see any of the convenience fees. So is it savings?

So anytime you use your credit card, right? Credit card companies charge around 3%, right? And so we will, so for example, if we collect $200,000 in development fees and all such things through people paying a credit card We're going to be collecting $100 a year. At some point throughout the year, we'll get a bill from Visa or whatever for the 3%. So instead of collecting $100, we're collecting $97 for every 100, right?

So this transfers that cost convenience fee to It's a change in how we do business, right? And it's consistent with what everybody is doing because it encourages developers to pay either by check or with cash. But anytime you use your credit card, Visa, MasterCard they're charging somebody 3%. Somebody's losing 3%, right? And in this case the city's paying for that convenience. In other words, the city pays for the convenience of somebody to use their credit card.

So now with this new company, we won't be... We're basically gaining because we're going to be saving that cost. Collecting the fee

payback.

Yes. Okay.

Thank you. Good question. Thank you for that Councilman. Any other questions from the council? I think it's a modernization of the way where we're doing business. You know, this looks to have minimal impacts for our residents because it's not applying to Parks and Recreation. It's more on the permitting and building side right? So I think it makes sense personally so at this time I'll go ahead and entertain the motion there are three recommendations on staff.

Mayor, actually before we move on the site, let me just ask one question. Absolutely. It's related to the exemption. I guess Parks and Recreation is exempt from this process. What are they using? I know that some of them there's a process being utilized for online payments and stuff like that. Correct. That would still be under the old system?

Correct. So Parks and Rec is using ActiveNet as a processor. That will remain the same.

Okay, and is that functioning appropriately for us? We're not going to be looking at that in the future in terms of savings or who's currently paying those fees? Is it the city? As we utilize it we're paying that fee? The city pays for those fees currently yeah. All right, will we

be addressing that in the future or is that not something? Councilman and direct staff if you want us to explore then see what the impact would be. We can certainly bring that back as far as something you want to consider.

I think this would be a great pilot program for us to look at. See how it works out and then if we find it to be a good way of doing business we can certainly look to expand that over to the other units so yeah Thank you. Yeah, no further questions on that and I would move to approve the recommendations as presented by staff. Thank you.

I will honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. Switching gears just a little bit here now requesting approval phase two of the Commerce Connect public Wi-Fi expansion project. Next slide please. So a couple of weeks ago, thanks to the efforts of Kevin Torres and Daniel de la Cruz from our IT division, the city launched Commerce Connect providing internal public Wi-Fi at these six city facilities you see highlighted here on the slide.

With the exception of Bandini Park which will be completed by the end of this week, public Wi-fi at all the other facilities has launched so it's ready to go and it's available to the public. But tonight's recommendation expands that investment by extending wireless coverage outdoors, making connectivity available throughout our parks and public gathering aid areas. Next slide please.

One important distinction here is that we're not simply purchasing Wi-Fi equipment like we did in Phase 1. BCS is actually delivering a fully engineered and integrated enterprise wireless network that includes the design, installation, testing and security configuration. I'd also like to briefly discuss here on this slide the procurement method that we used. I know it's a mouthful here, but rather than conducting a separate city-issued competitive solicitation, we utilized the State of California's CMAS program and what that is is CMAS contracts are competitively solicited by the state And it allows local agencies to leverage pre-established pricing and contract terms. So what this does is significantly reduces the time and administrative effort associated with conducting our own separate procurement while still complying with our purchasing policy, and ensuring that the city receives competitively established pricing.

Okay? Next slide. So some of the benefits of public Wi-Fi, I think it goes without saying. But for the public there's reliable outdoor internet access, improved digital accessibility and it supports our residents and visitors. On the city side some of the benefits are that we will have a centrally managed network While remaining completely separate from the city's internal business network, so this protects our systems while providing reliable public Internet access. Next slide.

Another advantage of this project is that it complements the city's long-term fiber initiative. So from a strategic standpoint, this isn't just about outdoor Wi-Fi. It also ties into the long term vision that the mayor and the City Council have set for where the city should be technology wise. As fiber becomes available we may be able to transition these locations away from commercial internet circuits potentially reducing ongoing costs while increasing network capacity. Okay next slide So the total project authorization that we're requesting is $756,000 which includes network installation, contingency and management and inspection services.

Also although Veterans Park is currently closed we've included it in this contract so that it saves us some time and some costs when we decide as a city to either place it at the pocket park or at the new park once that's ready to go. This project also includes recurring operating costs of approximately $61,200 annually. This includes recurring maintenance from BCS, technical support from BCS and the Internet Service.

As part of tonight's discussion staff would like to receive direction from the Mayor and City Council on potentially implementing a sponsorship or advertising program on the Commerce Connect landing page to help offset some of these costs. If approved, we'll incorporate the City Council's direction and work with BCS to include that as moving forward.

Great. Thank you for that, Director. Can I conclude your presentation? Just

to emphasize... So part of the recommendation tonight is to consider basically advertising this at one time. How would it

work? There's two different models. Either you watch one time advertising a video and then you have unlimited access to it or you can have several different advertisements for 10-15 seconds while you're using the Wi-Fi.

That's part of the recommendation to offset the ongoing cost.

Thank you for that, Director. Does the City Council have any questions?

I

do.

Part of that process, I know it can be a little disrupting sometimes when we get into the advertising. I realize the offsetting costs will be approximately $600,000. How much are

we offsetting? Well, potentially we can offset almost 100% of the cost. Potentially. Depending on the different types of programs and depending on the direction that the City Council also provides us tonight.

Okay but currently you're presenting it with that in place correct? No not yet.

So if the City Council wanted us to explore that we would come back what that model would look like.

Okay, yeah. Then my recommendation would be for us to move forward and definitely look at that but we wouldn't want to see what it looks like because I think it can be a little disruptive particularly when you've got people that are trying to focus and concentrate on what they may be doing and that sort of stuff so... Yeah, we definitely would like to see what that looks like.

Do my colleagues have any questions? We do have a motion on

the floor. No, I'll go ahead and second it but I don't have any questions

We have a motion and a second. Before we call it to a vote, I do think that's very valid. I think we should look at what the advertising program would look like. I know it's really common at airports for example, right? You log into Wi-Fi and I think the first option you presented is a little bit more digestible for me where you watch 30 second video and then you're free to use the data as opposed to intermittent interruptions.

I use a lot of, have a lot of free games on my phone. I get advertisements like every after every level I do so not many right but But it's a little distracting, right? So definitely we do want to see that back. Yeah I can

see two of your interruptions.

Mr. Mayor at this time I'm going to abstain from the vote. I actually had to walk away so I missed more than 90% of the presentation so I don't feel comfortable making a decision since I wasn't in here. So I'm going to abstain from

the vote. Is everybody else an aye? Okay, so we have four ayes and one abstention. Great motion passes thank you.

Thank you Mayor City Council

Okay, so now we'll go ahead and

Honorable Mayor, members of the Council. Good evening my name is Andy Ramirez I'm your Interim Director of Public Works and during this time as your Interim Public Works Director I've been conducting an audit of staff reports and contracts. During this process we discovered an error in awarding a contract, a construction contract for EV charge stations at City Hall to the design and rebate consultant ESG This was back on May 26 of this year.

The award of contract should have went to Video Voice Data Communications, which is ChargePoint's approved installer. Obviously this was an error that was caught but also acknowledged by ESG. And also by the installer. Therefore, before you is a staff recommendation for rescission of contract award to Energy Smart Group ESG and award of construction contract to VVD for the City Hall Electrical Vehicle Charging Station installation project. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you for that. Interim Director Ramirez, does anybody on the City Council have any questions? Comments? Okay well with that said I'll go ahead and make the motion to adopt the resolution per the staff report.

I'll second.

And we have a second by Councilwoman Arroyo. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion passes thank you. All right, and now we'll go ahead and