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Council directs staff on Cesar Chavez memorial upkeep and orders review of park restroom repairs after complaints
Summary
Council discussed a long-standing MOU with Pueblo y Salud to support Cesar E. Chavez Memorial activities and asked staff to coordinate fundraising and assess lighting and missing plaques. Separately, council directed Public Works and police to address repeated vandalism and recurring restroom problems at Rudy Ortega and other parks.
The San Fernando City Council discussed two related parks issues: a long-standing memorandum of understanding with the nonprofit Pueblo y Salud regarding the Cesar E. Chavez Memorial, and recurring maintenance and safety problems at Rudy Ortega Park and other city parks.
Parks staff told the council the city and Pueblo y Salud have an MOU (most recently extended) that permits the nonprofit to run community programming and fundraising for the memorial; the city retains responsibility for maintenance and repair. Recreation Supervisor Juan Salas and staff said the memorial needs electrical and lighting repairs and that several donor plaques are missing. The council discussed whether to pursue a city-funded repair, to partner on fundraising with Pueblo y Salud or to direct staff to identify donors who might have original plaque images.
On park maintenance, Councilmember Patty Lopez raised photos of vandalized restroom fixtures at Rudy Ortega Park and reported repeated complaints about trash and restroom cleanliness. Council and staff discussed the contractor schedule, staff inspections and the challenge of cleaning restrooms when transient individuals are present. Police and public-works managers agreed to increase coordination, to schedule planned random sweeps with maintenance staff and to ensure the contractor reports incidents that prevent cleaning so staff can respond quickly.
Direction to staff: The council asked staff to (1) meet with Pueblo y Salud leadership to explore fundraising and a plan to replace plaques and repair lighting at the Cesar Chavez Memorial, (2) inventory any records that identify donors for missing plaques, (3) assess electrical and lighting repair costs for memorial and include costs in the upcoming budget or present options for a smaller, near-term repair, and (4) improve park-restroom maintenance procedures including better contractor reporting and coordination with police for safety sweeps.
Ending: Staff said they will follow up with details and cost estimates and bring a status update to a future council meeting; members urged faster on-the-ground response for hazardous restroom conditions.
