Meetings are on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm. Upcoming agenda information and streaming video of meetings are available at http://www.cityoffullerton.com. City Hall is located at 303 W. Commonwealth, Fullerton. Contact Council at (714) 738-6311 or council@cityoffullerton.com.
Coyote Management Plan
Staff presented the adoption of a coyote management plan. While coyotes are a natural part of our ecosystem, sightings and encounters within the community have created safety concerns and questions. Some of those safety concerns, which the city manager touched on, are trapping regulations.
The city has received calls on whether or not to report sightings, how to report a sighting and concerns about how to treat sightings of potential dens. This plan is similar to what neighboring cities have adopted for a coyote management plan. Some of the key components of the coyote management plan include:
- Education about coyote behavior, safety tips, and responsible pet ownership;
- A proactive monitoring and reporting system allows residents to report sightings and encounters and collaborate with experts;
- Implement habitat modifications that discourage coyotes from frequenting urban areas, such as securing garbage bins and removing attractants. Nonlethal response methods such as hazing techniques and deterrence are also prioritized to discourage coyotes from becoming habituated to human environments;
- Working in conjunction with OC Animal Care and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to share resources and best management practices and coordinate coyote management efforts.
The benefit of a coyote management plan is that it’s a proactive approach to addressing the immediate safety concerns of residents. It creates the foundation for a sustainable coexistence with wildlife in an urban landscape. It also demonstrates the commitment to responsible stewardship of natural resources and commitment to public safety while fostering community awareness.
Staff recommends adopting the draft coyote management plan. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife representative offered free training for city volunteers.
The council directed staff to hold an annual coyote town hall to hear directly from Fish and Wildlife and opted to receive and file the coyote management plan.
Appointments
Mayor Nicholas Dunlap appointed Doug McKendry to the Parks and Rec Commission.
Councilmember Dr. Ahmad Zahra appointed Todd Harrison to the Senior Advisory Committee.
Councilmembers Bruce Whitaker and Dr. Shana Charles requested that anyone interested in being appointed to the Senior Advisory Committee submit applications. Five Direct Appointments and 1 At-large Appointment terms on the Senior Advisory Committee expire between December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2026. Senior Advisory Committee applicants must be 60 years or older and Fullerton residents.
For more information and the application, go to: https://www.cityoffullerton.com/government/ departments/city-clerk/commissions-committees-boards
Nicolas Junior High School Teacher Awarded California League of Educators Middle School Teacher of the Year and Receives Recognition from the City
Mucio Vidales teaches five Wood I classes and one Wood II class. The Wood II students are learning carpentry skills to build a tiny house. As part of this Tiny House Project, the students are learning construction trades and becoming agents of change, as the tiny home will be a shelter for a needy family. These tiny houses will provide a safe place for Fullerton School District elementary school students and their families to sleep and do homework. Vidales spoke passionately about his immense pride in his students, the amazing growth in their confidence, and the student’s ability to thrive in new experiences such as news agency interviews. “Fullerton is a great hub for education. Just looking at our schools, what we can accomplish in our schools is amazing. So, being awarded this award, I am deeply moved and honored. Thank you,” said Vidales.
Youth Committee Structure Revisions
Amanda Arbiza, the Parks and Rec Manager gave a brief background: The Youth Commission was presented to the City Council in January or February of 2020, and the council then voted to start the Youth Commission. Time passed, COVID-19 happened, and now the city is fully back and staffed again.
Staff is bringing it back tonight with changes to the original resolution. They request fewer at-large members, from 5 to 2, and change from a commission to a committee because the committee has more freedom and is outside the Brown Act (which concerns informal undisclosed meetings). The switch from a Commission to a committee is similar to what we did for our senior Committee. The staff is looking to start in September of this year.
The council voted unanimously for staff to work with The Collaborative and bring it back in June with better guidelines and options for the council to approve.
OC Power Authority Update
Andrew Di Giovanna, OCPA External Affairs Manager, joined by Natalie Morales Sandoval, Energy Programs Analyst. OCPA rolled out a new rate design earlier this year and enhanced its renewable energy offerings in two of its three plants. The 2% discount has now increased to a 3% discount for energy, and the percentage of renewable energy in the Basic and Smart Choice products has increased.
Customer participation is steadily increasing across OCPA member agencies. OCPA also saw the introduction of several new team members, including the energy programs analysts, community engagement manager, and an additional external affairs manager. The interim CEO, Joe Mosca, was confirmed as the permanent CEO.
The current energy programs, including the Bright Futures grant program, provide $70,000 to local nonprofits, educate communities about renewable energy’s benefits, and offer discounted rates for those who qualify for CARE, FARA, and Medical Baseline support. OCPA is developing a Community Power Plan, studying what energy programs are needed and who is best suited to implement them, such as an electric bike safety incentive program.
Hunt Branch Library Grand Opening & Update
The city has partnered with Solidarity, OC United, North Orange Continuing Education, and the Fullerton School District (FSD) to provide various programs for the Hunt Branch Library (which opened April 13 after this meeting took place. See story on front page).
The city will present at the Fullerton School District board meeting on Tuesday, April 16, to show what programs will be available at the newly reopened library.
The Museum of Teaching and Learning will exhibit the grassroots struggle for school desegregation in California in the dedicated smaller gallery spaces. Also on display is the Cool Mid-Century Design exhibit, comprising of vintage furniture that was custom-made for Hunt’s grand opening in 1962.
Upcoming events at the Hunt:
- Arts OC Annual Dia Del Nino event on Saturday, April 27, 10 am to 5 pm.
- Cinco de Mayo on Sunday, May 5, from 2 to 6 pm.
- Taylor Swift-themed event on Friday, August 9.
- Weenie dog racing event in the fall.
Public Comments
Todd Harrison: My wife, Yolanda, and I are housing endangered residents of Rancho La Paz here in Fullerton. I’m looking forward to the appointments you will be making tonight. Fullerton badly needs to do more for the city’s seniors. As the average age and median age of America’s seniors increases, they face harder challenges. Since John Saunders brought Rancho La Paz and started his attack on all the senior residents, we have had a flood of increasingly helpless and desperate seniors from our community, not just in the first few months but continuing to this day. Rancho La Paz has homes left vacant and, in many cases, brought by Saunders when the residents left for a number of reasons: Evicted: Homes sold for fractions of their value because of the depressed value created by the predatory rent spike. For example, my home dropped 50% in value on the open market the day Saunders announced the rent increases. Disappearances and abandoned homes: Some felt so hopeless that we had outright suicides and at least one near miss when a resident spotted another resident walking along the nearby tracks waiting to be hit by a train. That was one at least we were able to save.
I know nearly nothing about the unfortunate gentleman shot by Fullerton police during his attempted bank robbery last month. But seeing his age at 70, I have to wonder what drove him not to put down his fake bomb at gunpoint. I feel for him and the officer who was left with no choice but to end another life. My wife Yolanda and I are fighting back in every way we can. But eventually, we will be forced out of Fullerton and end up…Well, where? What the hell happened to my promised golden years of retirement? The time between half the work and half to die? Too many seniors cannot handle the work of surviving all of these new assaults and end up dying of “natural causes” that are, in truth, not just about health, but about what? The city needs to step up and help.
Wodarek: I’m still on the note of death in custody. The Fullerton police killed, and then they say that the Orange County District Attorney will investigate as part of the tradition. That is a total cover-up. On November 8th, 2011, at the height of demonstrations of the Kelly Thomas killing, Councilman Bruce Whitaker addressed CBS, and you said these words: “Fullerton police is involved in the total cover-up.” Because of that statement, you were saved from your three council members, who were all recalled. It’s over ten years now. We are tired of Fullerton police killing people here. Latino lives are being killed every year. The other day, you were celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr once said, “That we will not only remember the words of our enemies, but we will remember the silence of our friends.” You are always silent.
Zee: To every member of the City of Fullerton, there are 600 employees, I’m told. Your raises and your employment depend on a broader tax base, so you all 600 should get behind the idea of bringing to life an auto mall. Because that tax base, as it does in Cerritos, as it does in Tustin, as it does in Irvine, is going to be the basis for your livelihood in this city and to continue to compete with surrounding cities.
Susan: In the Fullerton Observer, I saw the proclamation for Arbor Day on April 6th. According to SB 535, the Fullerton 92831 zip code is environmentally challenged. Only 11% of the city South of the Acacia rail crossing and 22% northeast of the Acacia rail crossing have tree canopy. However, I see West Coast Arborists (WCA) trimming the trees in 92831. They were just on Wilshire between Lemon and Raymond. They were on that stretch of Wilshire last year. With the city of Fullerton’s acquiescence, WCA just chopped, topped, and sheared away whole branches from the trees lining Commonwealth from Raymond to Euclid. This also includes 92835. Besides the above-mentioned activity, these trees will now provide none of the stated benefits of on page 156 of The Forestry Management Plan, the Benefits of Trees, which states: reduce energy consumption, increase the value of residential property, provide aesthetic appeal, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, protect us from exposure to the sun’s UV rays, reduce urban runoff, etc. There is no tree canopy, especially for Commonwealth Ave, this spring or summer, and who knows about the fall and next year?
How do I know what WCA is doing to our trees and 92831? I’ve walked my neighborhood from Acacia to the Fullerton Museum Center over 1400 times in the last five years. I don’t listen to music. I don’t walk with anyone else. I don’t spend time on my phone. I walk, look around, and see what WCA has done. By the way, WCA is paid based on the number of trees it trims. They make millions every year from the city of Fullerton. They’ve been kicked out of Placentia. So tell me, how does the City of Fullerton have the gall and dare to declare Arbor Day? Stop trimming the tree canopy in 92831. What it’s called is environmental racism. That is what you’re doing.
Yolanda Harrison: Valencia, between Harbor and Lemon, is a dangerous street, and it’s not just the street; it’s the sidewalks. You need to fix Valencia. It’s safer for me to go down one of the alleys than it is for me to go down the sidewalk at Valencia. It is a school zone, and mothers with strollers go up and down that sidewalk all day.
Maureen Milton: Regarding the presentation on the Hunt Library, there was not one mention of transportation to and from the Hunt Library. It is in a very precarious place, and public transportation is almost nonexistent.
City Council Comments
Councilmember Dr. Ahmad Zahra: I want to thank our staff in Parks and Rec for putting together a great eggstravaganza for the Easter holiday. I went on a ride-along, which I encourage people to do with our police department. It was very revealing. I want to thank Officer Warner for allowing me to ride with him; he did a great job. He’s new to FPD. I also want to shout out to Officer Cohen. Both of the officers explained things to me, and I was able to see them in action. Two of our responses were calls from property owners about trespassing. So, two individuals were homeless, and they were not leaving. One was from a coffee shop, and the other was from a property.
In both cases, the officers had no tools other than just to move people along. And what I found is that in our system of response to homelessness, we don’t have anything at night. There are no shelters to take homeless people to. Our homeless liaison officers can’t go out at night, and there are other factors. I think that’s a gap in our response. One of the individuals requested some help, but all the officers could do was tell him to go to our Police Department and seek help there in the morning. At that point, they could get into other issues throughout the night, so we are putting those individuals and others who may interact with them at further risk. Arrests, unnecessary arrests, or unnecessary loss of life as well. I think that’s something I’d love to see our city start looking into. I’ve been making some calls to try to explore this. I think the county needs to step up on nighttime response as well. I know the fire also has a ride-a-long to learn, experience, and find the gaps in the system so we can fix them.
One of the things that I’ve learned as a councilmember is that I can no longer state just my opinions. When we show bias, we end up recusing ourself from the decision-making process.
On another note, I encourage everybody to see the new exhibit, Aliento Tequila, at the Fullerton Museum.
Councilmember Bruce Whitaker: Recently, we’ve been calling attention to noteworthy Fullerton citizens, and baseball season has just begun for the year for Major League Baseball. I wanted to call attention to a local author, David Jerome. See the feature by Emerson Little.
Councilmember Dr. Shana Charles: I recently had a death in my family, and the mayor has graciously said this session will be closed in honor of that. So, I’m in a period of mourning now, and I appreciate that some folks have reached out to me. I will be catching up on emails; this last month has been very hard. In terms of the community office hours, I have to suspend them for a couple of weeks. I will ensure that it is updated with staff. They will resume in the middle of April.
On a positive note, the State of the City will be hosted at Cal State Fullerton in my district, which is always an honor. It will also be live streaming, so anyone can watch the live stream and find out what we’re doing and what we’re thinking about for the city’s future. I am very excited that we’re bringing back city celebrations, the Hunt Library reopening this month, Mike Ness Day tomorrow, and Arbor Day on Saturday. We have a health fair on April 20. So I encourage everyone to attend all these events. I know our Thursday [Plaza] markets are restarting in April. Our city staff has updated me to inform the rest that the county is finally moving forward on the Healing Garden.
I am concerned about a few things. We did have a police shooting, and of course, I know that there will be an Attorney General report, and I look forward to reading that. The California State Attorney General, by state law, will be looking into these things. I’m also very confident in our Fullerton Police Department’s work and training. They told me they’re already training to deal with people with neurodivergence, doing de-escalation training, and many other things. But when there is a tragedy such as a police-involved shooting, the California Attorney General takes over. We will have that report, and then we can discuss it after we see it.
I was also very concerned to see this morning in the Voice of OC that they highlighted Fullerton as a place where affordable housing is not being built. I’m thankful they mentioned that we have approved and permitted hundreds of affordable housing units. I’m excited that we have voted as a council for every development that has come up since I’ve been on the council, at least. I look forward to these projects moving forward expeditiously.
I’m also concerned about the tree-topping issues. I care quite a bit about trees, personally. I know we work very closely with West Coast Arborists. I know they do a good job on many trees. I live in 92831. On the east side, I see lots of beautiful big trees. It looks like there are some places where that’s not happening, so I think we need to follow up on that.
In the last few weeks, I have been able to visit Wound Walk. An organization that sets up a street medicine clinic to help homeless people overnight. And that was a very eye-opening experience about what happens when the shelters close at 6pm. We’re not allowed to direct people to shelters. What do people do when they’re on the streets and need help? It was a difficult experience to see, just as an observer. I was very grateful for the volunteers that are volunteering their time with that organization. We really need to have a very multi-pronged approach.
Mayor Nicholas Dunlap: If you cannot attend the State of the City, you can watch it and see a wonderful speech on Thursday. There was a question about the cost. The Chamber of Commerce puts it on, so I believe they have some means of streaming it on YouTube.
But anyway, you know, in a city with such meaningful contributions to the world of music, notably the birthplace of the electric guitar, obviously the punk rock explosion of the 70s and 80s, I think it’s great that we’re able to celebrate some of these legends while they’re still here with us, still living and still creating music. We have a special presentation planned. I would encourage you all to join if you can attend.
Agreement with California Department of Transportation for State-funded Projects
Stephen Bise, Director of Public Works, presented the agreement to award a consultant for the Safe Streets and Roads for All Multimodal Action Plan, otherwise referred to as an SS4A.
Background: The SS4A is a federal grant program funding safety initiatives to prevent roadway fatalities and serious injuries on our roadway network. The program requires an eligible action plan to be adopted before seeking implementation funds. Staff applied for the Action Plan grant in September 2022 and was selected for an award in February 2023. The council subsequently accepted the grant in June 2023. The total grant is for $200,000. The city is required to provide a $50,000 local match, resulting in a project budget of $250,000.
The action plan will provide the foundation to implement low-cost, high-impact strategies to improve safety over a wide geographic area, including within the city’s disadvantaged communities. The plan will utilize citywide collision data and claims history to identify safety needs throughout the city. The goal is to deliver a plan that mitigates fatalities through proven and innovative means in line with public expectations. The scope of work includes reviewing existing conditions and data collection, public outreach, analysis of the data, and outreach input, and then the creation of a preliminary project concept, design plans, cost estimates, fact sheets, a draft, and a final plan for adoption.
A Request for Proposal was released in November 2023. Four qualified firms submitted proposals for review. After a thorough review from the staff, they selected KO as the preferred consultant to perform the work. They have 37 years of experience in transportation planning and traffic engineering. With roughly 100 employees, including certified roadway safety professionals, they’ve completed similar projects in Pasadena, Commerce, Azusa, and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Staff recommended including a professional service agreement with the selected consultant.
Public Comments
Anjali Tapadia: Regarding this project, I wanted to thank the staff for moving forward with the Safe Streets for All program. It’s a visionary project here in Fullerton that represents a huge leap forward. It recognizes the importance of safety for all road users, not just those in cars but also those on foot, bicycle, or using public transit. This project is important because our current road design disadvantages non-automobile users regarding both safety and convenience.
The US has the highest rate of traffic fatalities in the developed world. That doesn’t even consider the impact of non-fatal injuries in near misses, and our road design discourages active transportation. By some estimates, the cost of externalities related to prioritizing car driver convenience over all other road users totals over a trillion dollars annually in the US alone.
Recently, the City of Fullerton declared a climate sustainability plan, which is great. But unless we take meaningful steps to curtail the negative environmental impacts of all of our current road designs, which advantage car drivers and seriously discourage all other forms of transportation, we cannot make this declaration with a straight face.
I request that staff consider coordinating communication among Transportation & Circulation Commission, the Active Transportation Committee, and Parks and Rec. Cross-communication could yield some insightful perspectives to ensure that this project, which will carry implications for generations, is as holistic and successful as possible.
Lastly, I request that the safety recommendations of the Safe Streets for All initiative be adhered to. I see us paying consultants for report after report and not actually acting on them. We as a city, and council in particular, have not always respected our existing Bicycle Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan. We need to force our city to respect the plans that it itself has paid for and has requested.
Passed unanimously.
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