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Council directs staff to follow up on mobile consulate outreach after member offers local lead
Summary
Councilmember Patty Lopez asked the council to send a letter inviting the Mexican consulate’s mobile services to San Fernando; council approved a motion directing staff to follow the member’s lead, contact the consulate and report back on feasible options and logistics.
Councilmember Patty Lopez asked the City Council to pursue outreach to the Consulate of Mexico to arrange visits of a “consulate mobile” to provide document services locally. Lopez said constituents have asked for on‑site consular services to help with documents and to reduce travel barriers.
Lopez reported prior conversations with consular staff and a community contact who had visited city offices to assess sites. City staff explained an earlier consulate contact had requested a contiguous facility of about 2,000 square feet and availability for up to a month to operate the full mobile consulate, which staff said would be difficult to accommodate at city facilities given other programming and space limits.
Councilmember Victoria Garcia and others suggested staff follow the new lead Lopez offered — alternative consular contacts and potential sites — and examine partnerships with churches and private property owners who might host a shorter‑duration mobile visit. Councilmember Lopez moved, with a friendly amendment from Councilmember Garcia, that the city manager or designee contact the member’s lead/alternate consular contact (and send a city‑level letter as appropriate), explore options for a shorter‑duration mobile consulate or one‑day events, evaluate available city and partner facilities and return to council with options. The council approved the motion unanimously.
Staff said they will follow up on the lead, test feasibility for shorter‑duration visits and report back to the council.
