South El Monte council adopts budget after split vote; directs staff to return with reserve-policy options

The South El Monte City Council voted to adopt the city’s annual budget after a contentious discussion over whether to use reserves and whether to cut or contract out public-safety services.

The measure to approve the budget as amended — removing a line item described as “item 4,” which would have reduced public-safety staffing — passed by a 3-2 margin. Council members also directed staff to return at a future meeting with concrete recommendations to expand and clarify the city’s reserve policy.

The debate centered on how aggressively the city should draw down its reserves to cushion an economic downturn versus trimming recurring costs. Finance Director Masami told the council the city already “adopted a policy in 2020” and “we need to maintain it above 25% … we’re around 80% right now,” a statement council and members of the public cited during the discussion.

Supporters of keeping public-safety staffing in place said the officers provide day-to-day community stability. Michael Grijalva of Teamsters Local 986 urged the council to weigh human costs as well as dollars, saying, “I urge you to deeply consider the true cost, not only the financial cost, but the human cost of contracting now public safety.” Several parents and residents said uniformed, familiar safety staff improve drop-off and pick-up traffic and school event safety.

Council members and staff walked through alternative savings proposals that were discussed but not all adopted as part of the final motion. Options raised included a temporary hiring freeze (council discussed freezing up to five vacant positions to capture approximately $700,000 in savings), an RFP to reduce IT contract costs (current-year forecast rose from about $641,000 to a projected $760,000), trimming city events (the council discussed that events, newsletter and related outreach total roughly $675,000 annually and that a 25–50% reduction could yield significant savings), and expanding grant-seeking efforts.

Speakers also discussed the city’s Measure ES, which residents and staff said was projected during the ballot campaign to generate roughly $1,000,000 annually for essential services. Public-safety supervisor Joe Martinez noted that Measure ES was described to voters as providing funds “to maintain essential public safety services, infrastructure improvements and services for seniors, youth, residents of all ages.”

Council voted 5-0 — prior to the final budget approval vote — to ask staff to prepare a clearer set of reserve-policy options and scenario analyses for future council consideration. Finance staff emphasized that the council may amend the adopted budget at any point during the fiscal year.

The council’s action preserves services while directing staff to return with clearer thresholds and contingency language for reserve use, and to show the budget impact of specific program and event reductions the council discussed.

Staff will present the reserve-policy options and any amended budget language at a future meeting; council members said they expect those recommendations before the next formal budget amendment.