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Council moves to formalize volunteer program and supports new community foundation for fire department
Summary
Council discussed formalizing volunteer roles and a volunteer coordinator, reported steady volunteer signups (18 active and growing), and reviewed progress forming a La Habra Heights Community Foundation to accept donations for fire‑department capital needs; staff to open a bank account and return with next steps.
Councilmembers described steps to formalize volunteer activities and to ensure volunteers are valued and coordinated across city projects, and the council heard a staff update on the newly formed La Habra Heights Community Foundation.
John Dominguez, who has led volunteer recruitment and coordination, reported operational practices for upcoming events and maintenance tasks and said the volunteer sign-up list has about 18 people and is growing at roughly one new volunteer every two weeks. He described specific delegated roles — social media, emailing, and database maintenance — to support events like roadway cleanups and storm‑drain mapping.
"We are averaging one new person every two weeks; right now we're up to 18 people," Dominguez said, listing examples of tasks volunteers are already doing.
Councilmember John Pospiza and others recommended a more formal volunteer coordinator role that could be folded into staff duties or appended to an existing job description, with clear task lists and training so volunteers are not left without direction. Norm Zazula agreed to evaluate volunteer programs in nearby cities and to coordinate with Dominguez and the city manager to develop a structure.
On the community foundation, staff reported the nonprofit entity has a board in place but not yet a bank account, which must be established before soliciting donations. Councilmember Greg Stoeffler said he hopes a public meeting of stakeholders will occur by the end of the month so fundraising and governance tasks can be assigned; he described an aspirational target of roughly $150,000 by July to fund fire‑department capital needs.
Councilmembers asked staff to return with concrete options for volunteer job descriptions, tracking mechanisms, and a timeline for opening the foundation’s bank account so donations can be accepted.
