20200707 Regular City Council Meeting - Agenda (3)July 7, 2020
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July 7, 2020
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Honorable Mayor Leticia Lopez and members of the Vernon City Council
4305 S. Santa Fe Avenue
Vernon, California 90058
Item - Public Comment
J. Gavifia - Gavifia & Sons
2700 Fruitland Avenue
Vernon, California 90058
Dearest Mayor Leticia Lopez, Mayor Pro Tempore Melissa Ybarra, Council member William
Davis, Council member Carol Menke and Council member Diana Gonzalez,
My name is Jose A. Gavifia, and my family owns F. Gavifia & Sons, Inc. (also known as Gavifia
Coffee) which is a coffee roasting and packing business located in the City of Vernon since 1967.
We are also one of the top ioo power users in the city and personally fought Assembly Bill 46
alongside many of you when our city's very existence was in jeopardy. Next year marks the loth
anniversary of the victory we called Save Vernon Jobs, which resulted in saving our city,
protecting its assets, protecting the jobs of the city council and putting our great city on the path
of reform.
I am writing to you to ask for your assistance to keep up the Good Governance reforms and
measures instated several years ago with the help of John Van de Kamp, appointed City
Monitor, and Bob Stern, former President of the Center for Governmental Studies. We are
counting on you to continue to be good stewards of Vernon and the business community, and to
continue down the path of healthy governance and becoming a model city in California.
This means running a city that is financially solvent, review and approve a fair and balanced
budget without budget gaps, operate with transparency under the Brown Act, fair and multiple
RFPs for new contracts, and among other duties oversee the performance of city employees
including a City Administrator, City Attorney and staff who are qualified and work tirelessly to
run a city that is healthy and financially solvent.
I applaud and thank City Council members Lopez, Ybarra and Davis for voting against a
proposed energy project that would have jeopardized the fiscal health of the city. As a major
power user in the city and participant in many of the public meetings over the years on utility
issues, I am concerned over the Council's interest and approach to engage with developers on
the City's Jawbone Canyon property. This goes against a plan developed by Business leaders,
City leadership and Utilities Department staff who invested a lot of time and resources to
develop energy policies, rate studies, and resource planning to ensure that we make decisions
together, and no longer in the dark. Vernon rate payers are still paying $450 million for the
wrong decisions of previous leaders.
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City Administrator Carlos R. Fandino, Jr. has made bold leadership decisions that position the
City for strong fiscal health including:
• Made his *1 Mission & Goal to achieve the lowest electric rates in California by 2020
(banner is hung in Council Chambers)
• Refinanced electric rate bonds that resulted in positive credit rating for the City
• Stopped the Utility Fund transfer to the General Fund
• Evaluated true costs of inflated Fire Dept budgets that resulted in an outsource of
services to Los Angeles County — saving $150 million over 10 years
We must work together to achieve the lowest utility rates in California by 203o, but let us not set
ourselves up for failure, nor detract from the long-term planning established by good City Staff
and the trusted partnerships developed over these past 10 years.
I trust that you will fulfill your duty as Vernon City Council members with honor and integrity
and recommit to the promise made towards Good Governance.
M Cly,
e A. Gavina
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9.E'° FRAMCISCO'S LA LLAVE [I@VIgavina.com
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