Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City manager announces new park, grant pursuits; council presses CDBG audit and presentations
Summary
City Manager Jess Flores announced the grand opening of Adelanto's first new park in decades and described active grant pursuits with SCAG and SBCTA. Public commenters asked for CDBG funding for local assistance programs; councilors pressed for audit and presentation requirements for CDBG recipients.
City Manager Jess Flores told the council the city is preparing a grand opening for a newly built park (the first park the city has built in over 30 years) and that staff has installed no-cost security cameras at the site courtesy of IT and donated Department of Defense-grade cameras. He said a second park is underway and that public works will continue weed abatement and illegal-vending enforcement as part of wildfire mitigation and community safety efforts.
Flores highlighted several grant opportunities through the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) and the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA), and he thanked grant writer Saba for pursuing applications. Mayor Pro Tem Ramos summarized regional meetings including a Port Hueneme tour and recommended staff pursue joint grant strategies with neighboring cities to increase competitiveness for funding.
During public comment, CJ Page (director, Community Health Action Network) introduced his nonprofit's utility-assistance and financial-literacy program and urged the council to approve CDBG funds so the organization can continue helping residents. In response, several council members said they want more accountability for CDBG recipients and urged nonprofits requesting funds to appear before council to demonstrate services provided locally before awards are finalized. The city attorney said the CDBG process is a public-hearing process and staff may encourage but cannot require presentations in some contexts; the council agreed to strongly encourage presentations and to pursue an audit of recipients' local activities and outcomes.
Council also discussed use of the city's reporting app for residents to flag problems (the manager said reports go directly to public works) and asked staff for a performance audit of app usage, response rates and closed cases.
The council did not change CDBG rules on the spot but approved a motion to require or strongly encourage that recipients present to council prior to awards and directed staff to return with audit options and recommended administrative steps to ensure funds serve Adelanto residents.
