Speeding concerns council members

Near the end of the City Council meeting, council member Gilberto Reyna commented on how concerned he is with the speeding of vehicles on Central Avenue.

“It angers me,” Reyna said. “Drivers are speeding and doing donuts.”

At the council’s Tuesday, Sept. 15 meeting, Reyna asked Sgt. Peter Martinez how many speeding tickets the sheriff’s office has given out. Martinez responded that at the time, he didn’t have his statistics with him, but will update the City Council at the next meeting.

Martinez added that deputies are offered training in traffic infractions and ticket writing. He stated there are several classes he is looking into for his deputies to increase their knowledge in this area.

In other council member concerns, Reyna also brought up a question as to what the plans were for the removed trees on 7th Street. He asked that the city manager discuss the resolution of this matter.

Council member John Pallares said that even though the county is complying with the covid-19 closure of parks, he sees people still using them on the weekends and holidays.

Martinez presented his report and said that not too much happened in the city until Saturday, Sept. 12 when in the 1600 block of Sunset, a juvenile had a firearm and shot it into the air.

Deputies learned that around the same time a robbery had taken place at a health clinic on 7th Street. Two juveniles were involved.

The above two incidents were related, deputies said, as it was the same juveniles involved and they were arrested on three counts of burglary, brandishing a firearm and discharging a firearm. Deputies recovered property that had been stolen.

City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez provided an update on the city’s covid-19 grant program and clarified that a $3,000 grant is available for small businesses that have from 1-10 employees while a $5,000 grant is available for businesses that have 11-25 employees.

Assistant to the City Manager Marianna Sobolewski confirmed that the grant may not be used to pay rent or a mortgage. Ortiz-Hernandez said that the applications are available through the city’s website.

The COVID-19 Small Business Grant has been available since July 1 and will continue to be until Sept. 30.

In other council business, the city accepted the offer to dedicate real property, which is the road that the elementary school district had to build as part of their new Maintenance, Operation and Transportation building south of Teresa Burke Elementary School on Griffith Avenue.

The City Council also corrected the salary schedule by specifically adding building inspector 1 position to the list of authorized positions. Previously, the city had a hybrid building inspector/code enforcement officer. In the new budget year, the position was converted to a full-time building inspector 1 position.