City Council Promotes Gun Safety, Receives Update on City’s Homeless Efforts, and Approves Test of Childcare at Meetings

City Council to Test Childcare at Meetings

Would you attend a public meeting in person if childcare was offered? Childcare could be offered to residents to help them attend public meetings. On Monday, the City Council approved the development of a six-month test program of offering childcare at some City-held meetings, with the goal of enhancing public participation. While the public can currently virtually attend and participate in all of Culver City’s Council, Committee, Board, and Commission meetings, some community members with childcare responsibilities may prefer to attend in person. The City will distribute more information on the availability of the program and requirements to participate in the coming weeks.

Staff Provides Homelessness Emergency Update, City Council Approves Agreement Amendment with Urban Alchemy

The City Council received another update from Tevis Barnes, Housing and Human Services Director, on Culver City’s homelessness emergency. Barnes began the update by introducing a new member of the Mobile Crisis Team. Theodore Brown, or better known as Teddie, is a therapy dog as part of the team's wellness program. He will join and assist on calls when appropriate. You can watch the video of Teddie on the City's YouTube page.

Barnes also provided a snapshot of the care the City offers to the unhoused population in Culver City. As of May 1^st, the permanent supportive housing located at Project Homekey is at full capacity of 38 residents in 36 units, including nine emotional support animals. On the interim housing side of Project Homekey, 23 residents occupy 22 rooms. Current occupancy is at 76 percent. At the Wellness Village, formerly known as Safe Sleep, there are 19 people. A total of 57 people have participated since the start of the program in summer 2023. Thirty guests have moved to Project Homekey and other resources. The Motel Master Leasing currently has 38 people residing at the location. A total of 69 people have utilized the location since it opened in January 2023. The snapshot also included an update of the Mobile Crisis Team that officially launched at the beginning of March. The team has helped provide placement for 28 unhoused individuals and responded to 356 calls for service, engaging with 279 people with a total, including 71 mental health assessments. Healthcare in Action, the mobile medical unit contracted with the City, has contacted 87 patients with 77 of them receiving treatment. Currently the City staff is working on creating a dashboard on the City’s website that will track data regarding the unhoused situation in Culver City.

Meanwhile, the City Council later approved an amendment to the existing services agreement with Urban Alchemy for $4.43 million in the next fiscal year. Urban Alchemy will continue as lead operator and service provider for the Wellness Village, as well as provide supportive service and care to residents at the City’s leased motels. Urban Alchemy is a nonprofit organization with the mission of healing communities challenged by the intersection of extreme poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and addiction through the act of respect, compassion, and love. It will expand its evening and weekend homeless outreach services through the Community, Engagement and Outreach (CEO) Team. Since July 1, 2023, the Housing and Human Services (HHS) Department has received and responded to 555 homeless outreach requests via email, the homeless hotline, City staff and Council requests and the City Citizen Relation Management (CRM) system. The CEO Team will provide an expansion of outreach service hours from 3 PM to 11:30 PM, seven days a week. The Mobile Crisis team will continue to provide homeless outreach from 10 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday with crisis intervention services to the general community.

Culver City Police Provide Gun Safety Presentation

The Culver City Police Department provided a presentation on Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO). A GVRO is a civil court order requested by law-enforcement officers and select civilians, such as immediate family members, employers, or co-worker, when a person poses a danger to themselves or others. It prohibits controlling, possessing, purchasing, or receiving firearms, ammunition, and magazines. When used properly, a GVRO is one of many tools to temporarily remove firearms. A GVRO can last up to 21 days. Others can be extended by a judge and last between one and five years.  

Since January 2023, CCPD has seized approximately 115 firearms, with 17 being turned in by community members. CCPD also received 35 guns during buy-backs. Sixty-three seizures have come from detentions and radio calls. The presentation also showed a drop in gun violence in Culver City during the previous twelve months, compared to the prior twelve months. In the last year, Culver City saw a 42 percent reduction in gun violence.

Gun locks are available at the CCPD front desk and are free. If any community member has a firearm they no longer want, they can call the police department or turn it in at the CCPD front desk. Guns should be left in vehicle trunks until retrieved by CCPD staff. The firearm will be collected and destroyed accordingly. CCPD’s next gun buyback event is scheduled to take place in September.

City Council Proclaims June as Gun Safety Awareness Month

The City Council began its meeting on Monday proclaiming June 2024 as Gun Violence Awareness Month. Gun violence impacts every segment of our society and the lives of people of various age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, sexual identity, education, national origin, or any other distinguishing characteristic or trait. An average of 327 people are shot in the United States each day, with 117 being killed by firearms, according to nonprofit Brady United. Gun Violence Awareness Month honors the many lives that have been cut short by gun violence in our country and supports efforts to reduce gun-related crimes in the United States. The City of Culver City is committed to protecting its community from gun violence and exploring additional ways to do so through firearm safety regulations and safe gun storage.

City Council Recognizes Blackbird Collective

City Council also provided a recognition award to Bridgid Coulter Cheadle, owner of Blackbird Collective on its fifth anniversary as a Culver City business. Blackbird is a private work and wellbeing collective for women of color and allies to create positive change by providing a safe space for collaboration both virtually and in-person.

Finance Advisory Committee Presents Awards to City Staff

The Finance Advisory Committee presented the 3^rd Annual Innovation and Performance Awards. It recognized nine Culver City staff members for their efforts in making life better in the City.  For Best Innovation, the Transportation Department was awarded for its GoPass Program Passport. Dia Turner accepted the award. For the Sustainability Award, Public Works won for Sanitation Bin Welding Project. Moises Aldana accepted the award. For the Efficiency Award, Public Works won for the On-Call Task Order Requisition. Thomas Check accepted the award. In an Honorable Mention, Public Works was recognized for the Mesmer Low-Flow Diversion Stormwater Project. Sean Singletary, Jesse MacGregor, and Hong Wang accepted the recognition.

Additional Council Decisions 

Additional items approved by the City Council include:

• Approved cash disbursements from June 1^st to June 14^th, 2024.
• Approved minutes of the City Council Meeting held on June 10^th, 2024.
• Adopted a resolution to include Green Valley Circle between Sepulveda Boulevard and Centinela Avenue on the list of projects to be funded by the 2017 Road Repair and Rehabilitation Act’s Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account (RMRA) for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. Improvements include resurfacing, lane reconfiguration, and installation of bike planes. Staff will finalize the design this year with construction to occur in 2025.
• Approved final plans and specifications for the City Yard HVAC Replacement Project. It also authorized the release of a Request for Proposals. The scope of work includes removing nine existing HVAC natural gas heating/electric cooling package units, five existing MUA furnaces, and 23 exhaust fans located inside the various shops and replacing them with 14 new HVAC all-electric heat pump package units and 23 new exhaust fans.
• Awarded construction contract to PALP, Inc. dba Excel Paving for $128,500 for the 2024 Fox Hills Neighborhood Traffic Calming Project Phase 1A. Contingency costs not-to-exceed $32,125 was also authorized for approved change orders. Improvements include new speed humps, curb extensions, bike lanes, and pedestrian lighting. Due to cost, improvements are being implemented in two phases: near- and long-term. Areas include Doverwood Drive and Canterbury Drive, as well as Green Valley Circle & Buckingham Parkway. Construction is scheduled to begin summer 2024. You can view the the active project list on the City’s website.
• Approved three-year general services agreement with Ron’s Maintenance, Inc. for the Transfer Station Urban Runoff Diversion System Cleaning Services. The total is not-to-exceed $55,000. The diversion system reduces and prevents runoff and pollutants from the refuse transfer station facility from discharging into Ballona Creek and diverts all runoff to the sanitary sewer system for treatment at the City of Los Angeles Hyperion Sewer Treatment Plant.
• Waived competitive bidding requirements and approved amendment to the existing general services agreement with Fleming Environmental, Inc. for Underground Storage Tank (UST) operator services and environmental compliance testing at City fuel sites to extend the agreement through Fiscal Year 2024-2025 and Fiscal Year 2025-2026 for an additional aggregate amount not-to-exceed $180,000.
• Approved an amendment to the existing professional services agreement with Metropolitan Property Services, LLC to continue providing property management services for the affordable nine-unit multifamily complex located at 4031 Jackson Avenue for in an amount not-to-exceed 15% of gross rental proceeds plus reimbursement for cost of repairs during the time of performance from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027. In Fiscal Year 2023/2024, a total of $86,227 was collected in rental proceeds from the Jackson Property.
• Approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the County of Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services to provide supportive services and case management services to Transitional Aged Youth as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Foster Youth to Independence Rental Assistance Voucher Program. You can read more about the discussion of the item on the City’s website.
• Approved amendment to the master agreement with Assetworks Inc. for an amount not to exceed $75,000 for business process training and inventory data consulting services for the City’s fleet maintenance warehouse.
• Received and filed Measure CC and Measure C Sales Tax Status Reports and Real Property Transfer Tax Status Report of the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2023-2024. The City’s Measure CC and Measure C actual tax receipts were down 4.1% from the same period in 2022 after adjustments for reporting aberrations were made. The City’s regional car dealership sales plunged 18% compared to the Statewide decline of 7.7%. Culver City’s transaction tax receipts were down more than the County overall which experienced a 2.6% decline. The Real Property Transfer Tax, a one-time tax imposed by the City when property is sold in Culver City, provided $2.6 million for the third quarter compared to $719,902 in 2023 and $19.1 million in 2022.
• Approved purchase order with South Coast Emergency Vehicles in the amount of $47,600 for the repair of a Culver City Fire Department Paramedic Rescue vehicle. It also approved purchase orders with the company for parts and repairs for the Fire Department’s vehicle fleet in an amount not-to-exceed $150,000. The City Council also approved a blanket purchase order with South Coast Emergency Vehicles for parts and repair services in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 through Fiscal Year 2027-2028 in a total amount not-to-exceed $100,000 per fiscal year.
• Approved a three-year professional services agreement with two one-year renewal options with Alliant Insurance Services as the employee benefits insurance broker of record and for benefits consulting in an amount not-to-exceed $85,000 for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 with an annual increase of no more than 5%. Also approved a related budget amendment appropriating $85,000 from the Self-Insurance Fund.
• Adopted a resolution ratifying the previously approved and adopted salary schedules for City Employees for Fiscal Years 2019-2020 through 2023-2024 in accordance with CalPERS’ directive.
• Adopted resolution calling and giving notice of a General Municipal Election to be held on Tuesday, November 5^th, 2024, for the purpose of electing three Council Members and submitting to the voters a ballot measure. The estimated total costs for the election are approximately $200,000.

Additional information about each of the topics heard at the City Council meeting can be found in the staff reports and backup attachments for the items, which are posted along with the agenda to the City’s website. The video of the City Council meeting will be made available on the City’s website for viewing.

The City Council’s next meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 8^th.

About Culver City

Culver City is a five-square-mile, urban community of 40,779 residents surrounded mostly by the City of Los Angeles but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. It is centrally located on the Westside near Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles International Airport.  Culver City is particularly known for its well-run public school system, "small town" charm, growing high-tech and creative economies, and a dynamic downtown that is regionally known as a destination for restaurants, live theater, and art galleries. 

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On Monday, the City Council proclaimed June 2024 as Gun Safety Awareness Month in the City of Culver City.