Votes at a glance: Los Alamitos council approves ordinances on e‑bikes, procurement threshold, lobbyist reporting and commission size; pulls Catella striping R‑

The Los Alamitos City Council took several formal actions at the meeting, including ordinance introductions, administrative approvals and a decision to pull a street‑striping contract for further review.

Key votes and outcomes

- Accelerated warrants: The council approved the accelerated warrant report by roll call vote. Mayor Hasselbring, Mayor Pro Tem Delbey, Councilmember Hibbard, Councilmember Low and Councilmember Naftolde voted in the affirmative.

- Consent calendar: The council approved the consent calendar with items A and C pulled for separate discussion and item G (Catella/Cattell striping) removed from the calendar for further staff review and re‑advertising. The council directed staff to correct an error identified in the packet (a vote recorded incorrectly in the December minutes) before final filing.

- Police recruitment incentive (Consent Item C): Council approved a referral incentive for lateral police recruits that pays the referring employee in three increments ($3,000 at hire, $3,000 at training completion, $3,000 after successful completion of probation) for a total of $9,000 to the referring employee. Staff said the city currently has 25 funded sworn positions, with approximately 23 filled and additional backgrounds in process; the incentive is intended to aid lateral hiring.

- Catella striping (Item G): Council pulled the proposed restriping contract for Cattell/Catella Avenue from the consent calendar after councilmembers identified a discrepancy between the engineering scope and the notice‑to‑bidders language. Staff will revisit the engineering estimate and bid documents and return to council in February.

Ordinances and first readings

- Ordinance 2025‑01 (e‑bikes): Introduced (first reading) — would add chapter 10.45 to the municipal code to regulate electric bicycles and local enforcement tools. The council approved introduction by voice vote.

- Ordinance 2025‑02 (informal bidding for public works): Introduced (first reading) — codifies an informal bidding process and raises the informal bid threshold to $125,000 consistent with voter‑approved Measure X. The council approved introduction by voice vote; staff noted a 5% provision allows council to act by supermajority if low bids slightly exceed estimate.

- Ordinance 2025‑03 (lobbyist registration and reporting): Introduced (first reading) — implements voter‑approved charter provisions for lobbyist registration by adding chapter 2.58 to the municipal code. Council approved introduction by voice vote.

- Ordinance 2025‑04 (commission membership): Introduced (first reading) — establishes a five‑member composition for city commissions (replacing seven members). Council approved introduction by voice vote. Council discussed attendance rules and the option to make membership configurable by resolution; staff noted code already contains automatic removal language for absences (three consecutive meetings or one‑third of meetings in a calendar year) and that appointees serve at the pleasure of council.

Other actions

- SCAG delegate: The council designated the mayor as the city’s voting delegate to the Southern California Association of Governments annual general assembly.

Next steps: Staff will correct the bid documents for the Catella/Cattell striping and return the item for council consideration. Several introduced ordinances will return for second reading/approval at a later council meeting after staff finalizes ordinance language and implementation procedures.