Mayor Protem Dr. Shana Charles (walking with a cane from her recent injury) chaired the meeting as Mayor Fred Jung participated on Zoom. Also absent was Councilmember Dr Ahmad Zahra due to a medical issue (Get Well Soon). Both Councilmembers Nick Dunlap and Jamie Valencia were present. 

Invocation by Rabbi Milhander (one of the eight Chaplins of the Fullerton Police Dept) was followed by a Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

There was no report from the closed session.

One welcome difference noted in Mayor Protem Charles’s style in chairing the meeting was that she thanked each public commenter and assured each that their issue would be addressed. This is what a true leader looks like. After the comments had finished, she reviewed each with the city manager and staff to see what solutions could be found. (Below, for ease of reading, each comment is followed by that response.)

Bicycle Lockers & Car Turn vs Bike Safety: 

•A resident spoke on behalf of her husband (who was away on a business trip) about the pros of the secure bike lockers, which were recently removed from the Fullerton Train Station – versus the new bike racks that are easily vandalized. Her husband, an LA Dept of Water & Power engineer, has commuted to work by bike and train since 2012 and was a regular user of the secure bike lockers. She asked for the reason for removing the lockers. 

•Avid bicyclist Anjali Tapadilla told about recently being hit while she was in the bike lane by a car making a turn on Commonwealth and Highland. She said this was a common occurrence for bicyclists and that there are far too many bicyclists and pedestrian deaths in Fullerton, and something needed to be done to protect bicyclists. She suggested implementing separate bike lanes. Like has been done around the world. She asked Councilmember Valencia, who had campaigned on safer bike lanes, to step up. OCTA notified the city of another dangerous intersection at Pomona and Commonwealth, where an unprotected left turn creates a serious pedestrian hazard. Yet nothing has been done. A similar issue exists at Lemon and Valencia, where the city has not acted to protect children on their way to school. “I urge you to protect public safety at these and all other unprotected left turn areas. If the city. Is notified and continues to do nothing – surely it is complacent in any casualties that happen.”

She invited everyone to Strong Towns OC’s Active Transportation forum at the Community Center, 340 W Commonwealth, on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 6pm, where subjects will include how cities can improve bicycle, pedestrian, and other public transit infrastructure. 

(Unfortunately, Mayor Pro Tem Charles cut off Councilmember Jamie Valencia’s request for Tapadilla to repeat the event contact address, which was unclear.) Mayor Pro tem Charles explained that while the Council cannot discuss items not on the agenda, a short response could be made after the comment section is closed.

Response: 

Mayor Protem Charles said both bicycle issues were good items for the Active Transportation Committee, “which is newly robust and reenergized under the leadership of Mr. Chris Norby. I know our train station is being revitalized with new signage and painting.” She asked Public Works Director Stephen Bise to address why the lockers had been removed. 

Director Bise said there were two bike locker banks, one on the SOCO side and one on the Train Station side. “The subject of removing them had been brought to the Active Transportation Committee (ATC) in a staff update previously because they were not well utilized and had been broken into frequently and used by the unhoused as housing. 

Mayor Protem Charles said, “OK, it sounds like some users were finding them useful, so the issue can go back to the ATC to talk about better options.”

Fiber Connection at Rancho La Paz: 

•Mr. Harrison, a resident homeowner at Rancho La Paz, said that the mobile home park’s “predatory” owner, John Saunders, and his company, Star Management, were refusing to allow fiber cable to be laid (at no cost) at the park. He said it was just one in a long series of actions by Saunders against homeowners because he was trying to get them all to sell to him so he could turn it into a rental park and probably turn that into expensive condos and make more money as he has done at his other parks. He said the Internet connection at the park was poor or non-existent and asked the city to do something. 

Council Response: 

Mayor Protem Charles asked City Manager Eric Levitt if he could open a discussion with Saunders about allowing Fiber City into the park.  

Neighbors Speak Out About Parking Tickets:

Residents came to Council to object to the $40 each ticket they received for parking overnight in front of their own homes in the Tamarack, Ash, Elm, and Rosslyn neighborhoods. 

•Victor Cortes said that, as a 50-year homeowner, he had never received such a ticket.  He said he went to the police department to get answers to why his neighborhood was being targeted and was told overnight parking is prohibited in all of Fullerton, as stated on signs at the entrance of town. He pointed out that there was no prior warning that the city would be restarting enforcement and that there was no signage prohibiting parking on the streets in his neighborhood. All the streets of surrounding neighborhoods are exempt. “And no, I don’t think we should have to pay more to park in front of our own homes. We already pay for the streets,” he said. Additionally, “due to a city contract with a private company, you have to pay your ticket online, but many people, including myself, are not computer savvy,’ he said. He asked the Council to “cancel the tickets and allow us to park at the curb in front of our properties.”

•Veronica Do, another neighbor, agreed and complained about the mass ticketing and asked about the option of permitted parking for residents and visitors. There should have been notices.

•Mr. Do said 60 cars in his neighborhood were ticketed. And no one at the police station returned calls about the situation. Fullerton Resolution 1066 requires signs. But there are none on our streets.  We need more than two permits per household.

•Cory C agreed and also spoke about accessible parking spaces being exempt from overnight ticketing unless posted otherwise by state law. There was no notice. He asked that a visitor and resident parking pass be made available.

•Guerrmo Serati agreed and said he had been parking on the street in front of his home for eight years and never heard of the ban. “Like everyone – I was surprised when I got up to go to work to find the ticket. There was no notice and no signs posted.” He asked how visitors are supposed to know. This is not a gated community. These are taxpayer-provided roads, he said. “It makes no sense that our streets are restricted when all the surrounding streets are exempt.”

•Asvaldo Ramirez said he was here with all his neighbors. “If I can’t park in front of my house, where should I park?” He said he also has a work truck with tools that he parks on his property where he can see it, and his son and father, who live with him, have a car. “So even with the permit system, two permits per residence are insufficient.”

•Robert Savage said he has lived in the city for 33 years and has always known about the overnight parking ban. He said his issue is with the street sweeping. He asked the Council to reinstate ticketing of non-compliant vehicles so that the streets on W. Porter can be cleaned properly. Street sweeping on one side of the street per week isn’t a good idea. “We’re getting half the street sweeping.” Also, AB14 prohibiting parking in crosswalks is not being enforced.

•A resident living in another neighborhood said she was unaware of the overnight parking ban until she received a ticket a year ago. “I was shocked because I had never heard of a city where parking on streets was prohibited without clear signage. It would be nice to have signs clarifying where parking is not allowed. But it is very inconvenient not to be able to park in front of your property when you have multiple family members in your home – you all can’t fit in your driveway or garage – so where are you to park? Our tax dollars pay for the streets.  What are the solutions? Can you get a permit? I am very interested in what options we have.”

Council Response: 

Mayor Protem Charles gave an overview and some options, saying, “The current overnight parking ban ordinance has been in place since 1970. Signs (no parking 2am to 5am) are posted only at city entrances. Last year, we had a full council discussion about this issue, and the public was invited to talk. At that time, the public did not want the law removed entirely. So, we instituted a permit parking pilot program in mid-2024 that provided homeowners and renters who could prove residency at an address – with a permit to park on their block area for $50 for the 18-month program. 

We are also currently doing ticketing through a sub-contractor of the police department. If they get complaints of many cars parking overnight, they will go out and ticket the whole area. I am hearing from folks that signage at the entrances of the city is not nearly adequate. There is a process to get tickets waived by the police department, and I am sure our police chief will be happy to talk with you about that. There’s also a process to exempt a block from the overnight parking ban by getting 60% of property owners on the block to sign that they are in favor of that. The city manager can help you with that process.”  

Mayor Protem Charles also invited residents to visit her to talk more at her open office hours on Thursdays from 12noon to 2pm at City Hall or to email her at shana.charles@cityoffullerton.com

Homeless Problems: 

•Reverend Tonya, a homeless woman who had been staying at the Illumination Foundation shelter, described her health problems as a high-functioning bipolar person who had undergone 12 years of Enthropic medication – but was now off all medications and doing it her way. She asked for a hotel voucher because she had been unfairly put on the shelter’s “behavioral watch list” due to a misidentification with another blonde white female who had acted out. She said she was “feeling a little crazy – it’s challenging to live with 30 women and I don’t know how many men,” she said.

•Curtis Gamble said he went to a seminar for the Fullerton Navigation Center (Illumination Foundation). “Dr Pooja Bhalla was the speaker. She is the CEO of Illumination Foundation and answered questions for me. She said that people could stay there for 6 months or as long as they needed to and that she would do whatever the city wants.”  Gamble said the city owns that $10 million facility at 3535 W. Commonwealth Ave. He pointed out that the Fullerton Municipal Code needs to be updated as it states that the length of stay at the center for “an individual client shall not exceed 6 months within a 12-month period” and that “dates of stay need not be consecutive.”  “We need to ensure our shelter follows state and federal law.

He said the winter motel voucher program (currently open to families with children and the elderly) should be available to more people regardless of weather conditions. 

Council Response: 

Mayor Protem Charles asked the City Manager, Police Chief, and Homeless Liaison officers to follow up on the issues expressed to ensure everything works as it should at Illumination Foundation.

Housing Element:

•Jane Riefer asked that item 12, regarding the housing element consulting work, be pulled from the consent calendar for discussion. She questioned several discrepancies regarding the fiscal impact between the Jan. 7 meeting and current backup materials. She also said she hoped “the city is not writing agreements with contractors that don’t allow for changes to be made by the council or planning commission,” pointing out that sometimes things needing change are not caught until later. 

Empty Building Update: 

•Maureen Milton asked for an update on finding a new tenant for the recently closed Stater Brothers location on Euclid and for the property near the train station where the hotel was supposed to be built. She also said she would love to get together with the police and fire chief to come up with better demarcation or design showing people where they cannot park near crosswalks and fire hydrants concerning the new state law AB14.

Council Response: 

Mayor Protem Charles said our Economic Development Folks are working on all those issues, and negotiations are happening regarding the hotel, but we cannot report on those yet. We are concerned about the empty Stater Brothers, the JoAnnes on Yorba Linda,  and the SteinMart building.

Councilmember Valencia, adding the 99¢ store, the Harley-Davidson store, and several restaurants in District 4 to the list, said, “We need to drum up business in Fullerton.”

Mayor Protem Charles agreed and asked CM Levitt and the economic development staff to focus on repurposing the large empty storefronts or attracting a new tenant.  “We don’t want them to turn into a downward spiral. So let’s all encourage everyone to shop local.”

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