By Brooklynn Wong
The Buena Park City Council met on Tuesday, January 28 and held discussion on a wide breadth of topics. The Council will next meet in mid-February. Keep an eye on the city’s website for details including items to be discussed. Below are some highlights from this week’s meeting:
Kobe remembered
Economic Development Administrator Ruben Lopez is retiring after a long career with both Buena Park and other cities. The Council praised him. Mayor Fred Smith called Lopez a “wealth of knowledge,” and made it clear that he will be missed. When Lopez himself had a chance to speak, he took a moment to reflect on the tragic death of Kobe Bryant and others last weekend. He said, “Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows I’m a Laker fan, and in light of the tragedy that happened over the weekend,” he continued, “turn to the Lord and thank Him for the gift of life.” He became emotional and took a long pause before concluding his remarks.
Boys and Girls Club update
Boys & Girls Club of Buena Park Program Director Luz Trout and Program Staff Member Malia Hays gave a quick update on some recent Club happenings. Last weekend, their Youth of the Year event was held. And Councilwoman Beth Swift let them know that there’s a new business in town that’s moving into the old JC Penney location at the mall (stay tuned for updates) that was planning to make a sizable donation to the Club on Thursday. The Club representatives had not been aware that that was coming their way, and thanked Swift for letting them know.
Resident speaks out against speaker time reduction
Resident Dr. Val Sadowinski spoke during oral communications, saying he opposes the initiative the Council brought up at its last meeting to reduce the amount of time each resident gets to speak from five minutes to three. No formal vote was taken nor an official decision made at that meeting; it was simply brought up as a study session item. But four of the five Council Members expressed support for things going in that direction. Sadowinski also spoke against the initiative at that meeting. City Clerk Adria Jimenez presented information at that meeting, including that when she surveyed all 38 of Orange County’s cities, she found that most of them do only allow three minutes already. At this week’s meeting, Sadowinski said the five minute rule has “served us well for many years.” He granted that some presentations are repetitive, but called five minutes the “most appropriate amount of time” for residents to adequately bring forth their concerns.
Mayor Smith said regarding the decision to have three minutes be the standard rule, with the option to extend to five minutes on a case-by-case basis at the mayor’s discretion, he’d still like to “give it a try.” He said he would grant five minutes in most cases unless the speaker is “rambling.”
Moving forward with this passed 4-1, with Councilwoman Sunny Park dissenting.
City tourism update
Sara Copping, the Executive Director of Visit Buena Park, presented the 2020 Buena Park Tourism and Marketing District (BPTMD) annual report for Council approval. She gave a brief history of the BPTMD, saying it was formed in 2016 and is made up of six hoteliers and one attraction. Statistics she shared on last year included that 10.4 million visitors passed through Buena Park in 2019. The Council voted unanimously to accept the 2020 Annual Report. There was no impact on the city’s budget.
Sister city shortfall
Buena Park has a sister city in South Korea called Seongbuk. This partnership has in the past involved high school students from the two cities participating in exchanges, and city officials visiting Korea. Assistant City Manager Aaron France this week said that this spring, Buena Park students are planning to go back to Seongbuk. Buena Park would similarly like to bring the South Korean students here in October, and there will likely be a larger delegation than in the past. But a current shortfall exists in the funds allocated for that endeavor. Buena Park is short approximately $7,000 to be able to do this. However there are ample unspent funds from the 2018-19 general fund that could cover the costs. The Council approved this.
Navigation Center
Buena Park’s Navigation Center, which will function as a homeless shelter that will benefit all cities in the North Service Planning Area, is now under construction and is due to be opened this spring. City Purchasing Manager Mark Averell spoke about the furniture, fixture and equipment purchasing phase that is now underway. He said office, dorm and common space furniture is what is needed. City staff has done its research and has identified a few companies that can fill its needs.
The installation group in question is one the city has worked with in the past on the furnishing of Station 61.
Councilwoman Swift asked whether the mattresses the city’s buying are bed bug proof. Yes, Averell said.
The Council also asked about whether pets will still be allowed. The answer was yes; in his words there will be “cages” that will go next to some of the bunks so pets can stay with their people.
Averell also clarified that this is all covered by the $10.5 million construction budget.
The Council approved the agreements, therefore authorizing the Purchasing Manager to award contracts and order furniture.
