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San Gabriel introduces ordinance to renew county public‑health service agreement; staff say city would face high costs to operate its own health department
Summary
Council introduced Ordinance 7‑20 to continue San Gabriel’s contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; staff said the updated agreement modernizes terms for all county cities and provides services at no additional cost, while establishing a city health department would be costly.
The City Council on Tuesday introduced Ordinance 7‑20 to approve an updated services agreement with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and scheduled a second reading and adoption for the next regular meeting.
Assistant to the City Manager Ileana Flores explained the proposed agreement modernizes language and statutory references and continues to provide core public health services — disease surveillance, environmental health and sanitation, public health nursing, laboratory services and health education — to San Gabriel and other county cities. Flores said the agreement continues the longstanding arrangement that provides these services to contract cities at no additional fee and includes automatic five‑year renewals unless terminated.
Flores told council that if San Gabriel elected to leave the county agreement it would need to form an independent local health department, a step staff described as entailing sustained multimillion‑dollar commitments for personnel, equipment and operations; Flores noted that West Covina has explored that route and the city had not identified a reliable lower‑cost alternative.
Council members discussed operational responsiveness from county public health — particularly for restaurant plan checks and enforcement against illegal street vendors — and staff said the department has generally been responsive and partners with local code enforcement and police for joint enforcement operations. City staff said large‑scale enforcement efforts typically require coordination and scheduling with county public health and may take a few weeks to set up.
Council introduced the ordinance and voted 5–0 to proceed with the first reading; staff recommended scheduling the second reading and adoption at the June 17 meeting.
Quotes
"The proposed public service contract addresses these issues by modernizing the language for all 85 contracted cities, ensuring alignment with contemporary public health standards and current statutory references," — Ileana Flores, Assistant to the City Manager.
Ending: The ordinance to renew the county contract was introduced unanimously; staff emphasized that the county partnership avoids the substantial costs of establishing an independent city health department and recommended continued collaboration on enforcement operations and outreach.
