At its June 17 meeting, the South El Monte City Council directed staff to pursue a set of budget-reduction measures and return with amended numbers, voting 3-2 to move forward.

The council’s instructions — proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Hector Delgado and approved after debate — asked staff to (1) reduce the City Council travel budget, (2) issue a request for proposals for information-technology services, (3) pursue an employee insurance premium/opt-out offer analysis, (4) study elimination or outsourcing of the City’s Public Safety Department, and (5) evaluate eliminating an unfilled code-enforcement position. City staff said they would return with cost estimates and implementation details.

The directives followed a staff presentation on the city’s multi-year fiscal forecast. Finance Director Masami told the council that the city faces a structural deficit: staff presented the current-year shortfall and a multi-year projection that grows without corrective action. Masami provided several specific cost figures requested by council members during the study-session discussion: she said a full-time code-enforcement officer costs about $120,000 annually and that two full-time public-safety positions cost roughly $173,000 combined (estimates provided by staff). She also reported the city’s vacancy rate under AB 2561 at 6% and summarized earlier-sought cost reductions in conference, IT and other non-payroll line items.

Council members debated the trade-offs. Supporters said the city must reduce recurring costs to avoid drawing down reserves and to avert deeper layoffs or new taxes; opponents warned that cutting enforcement or public-safety staff could shift costs to police calls and community services and urged caution before eliminating in-house capacity. Several council members pressed staff to seek competitive bids for outsourced services and to return with firm contract pricing and vehicle/cost assumptions.

The final roll call on the Delgado motion was: Council Member Manny Acosta — No; Council Member Rudy Bohorquez — Aye; Council Member Rodriguez — Aye; Mayor Pro Tem Hector Delgado — Aye; Mayor (name not specified in transcript) — No. The council recorded the directive as the action of the meeting and asked staff (city manager and finance director) to come back with amended budget numbers and implementation options.

The motion does not itself enact layoffs or adopt a revised budget; it directs staff to return with analyses and numbers for future council action.

Ending: Staff said they will present the requested cost estimates and contract options at a subsequent meeting and provide written numbers to the council for review before any personnel changes or contract awards are made.