Plexiglass dividers at grocery stores (Photo – @ChickenSpaz)
Here are highlights from Alhambra’s City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.
By Melissa Michelson
At the January 11, 2021 Alhambra City Council meeting, Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez requested a discussion about Hero Pay for grocery workers. Hero Pay is generally an additional $4 per hour for grocery workers due to the greater risk of workplace COVID exposure. Other cities’ ordinances apply to private and publicly owned grocery stores with over 300 employees nationwide and 10 employees locally, and Hero Pay is for a duration of 120 days.
The County of Los Angeles was considering adoption of such an ordinance until the California Grocers Association announced it had filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Long Beach arguing the hazard pay is unconstitutional. A hearing on a preliminary injunction, which would stop the ordinance from taking effect while the case is pending, is set for February 19. In an attempt to avoid a similar legal circumstance, some cities are waiting to make decisions after the Long Beach hearing. Alhambra city staff are seeking Council’s direction as deemed appropriate.
At Monday’s meeting, councilmembers shared where they stand on the issue, with Mayor Pérez, Councilwoman Adele Andrade-Stadler and Councilman Jeffrey Koji Maloney supporting Hero Pay, and Councilwoman Katherine Lee and Councilman Ross J. Maza opposing it currently. Lee prefers to hear the legal update from the Long Beach hearing before deciding.
Affordable Housing
The city council heard proposals from seven affordable housing developers that submitted Requests for Proposals to build an affordable housing complex at 103 N. Chapel in downtown Alhambra behind the Ross Dress for Less. The city council awarded the contract to RELATED developers, to build a five-story construction, with 44 units combining permanent supportive housing and family units for dwellers with low and extremely low incomes.
Strategic Plan
The Council discussed the city’s Strategic Plan and whether to reduce the number of members on its Planning Commission and other commissions that had more than five members. Currently, each of the five councilmembers can appoint two commissioners to the Planning Commission, and it is desirable, not required, for them to have certain experience. That might change. Mayor Pérez and Councilwomen Lee and Andrade-Stadler supported keeping the commissions as is. Planning Commission voted 7-3 to recommend to the City Council a rejection of the controversial “The Villages” mega-development of 839 luxury units on Fremont. This agenda item will be continued in early March when the City Council reviews its Strategic Plan.
> Click to view the full Alhambra City Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021.
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