Local Elections: La Verne Council Candidates Share Their Priorities at Hillcrest Forum

Thomas Allison

Transcript timestamp: 9:57

Thank you very much for that. Thank you for having us here today. This is important to me. Voter voice is very important to me. I was also at Taste of Laverne, but felt it very important to make time to answer your questions directly, particularly where they're not going to be pre-scripted. So in 2003, I came to ULV and I stayed in the Brent Hall as a freshman. I occasionally snuck into Stu-Han, played football in Ortmayer Stadium, and enjoyed meals at the Frank and Nadine Johnson Family Plaza. By graduation, I had given up on my dream of becoming a lawyer, but the community of La Verne didn't give up on me. As a member of the ULV debate team, I debated in front of ULV's board of trustees. Perhaps some of you are in this room today. I was introduced to the dean of the law school. I was urged to apply to law school, and with a letter of recommendation from then President Steve Morgan, I was headed to law school. A law degree, a master's, and doctorate in public administration followed, all of which from the University of La Verne. Along the way, I started a law firm, a profit, a nonprofit, and a family. My nonprofit used a principle called collaborative governance, and I learned that from my mentor and great role model, Dr. Jack Meek. That led to collaborations with La Verne Police Department, the City of La Verne, and dozens other stakeholders. This work led to my appointment to La Verne's General Plan Advisory Committee. Then Mayor Don Kendrick said something that stayed with me, and quite frankly, is a reason I have stayed in La Verne. He said, "If anything good can happen anywhere, it can happen right here in La Verne. And so I took that, and that same year, we started CASI. The names on the buildings and spaces around ULV became living legacies. Those legacies, ULV's core values, and La Verne's traditions drew us to the Church of the Brethren, where I chaired the Peace and Justice Commission, and in the next year was appointed to the Planning Commission. Being asked to serve on the Hillcrest board was an honor, and I did not shy away from it. My first term, I had near perfect attendance until my third child was born. I also chaired the Ethics and Health Services Committee. In 2024, my stepfather had a heart attack and developed cancer. In the process to his death, there was a significant life pivot. I stepped away and stepped back, and ultimately stepped away from Hillcrest. I completed two terms on the board, and I shifted. Now I have the time, the availability, and the passion to bring together the legacies of those who have come before me. Thank you.

Steve Johnson

Written statement read aloud by Gilbert Ivy; the candidate was not present. This is the automated transcript of that reading.

To the Hillcrest residents and the committee members and attendees tonight, I am sorry that I cannot be with you all this evening. As a city council member I have an obligation to support our small businesses. Tonight conflicts with an official city event, the Taste of La Verne. When I was invited to the community forum, I notified an organizer of the date conflict and hoped the forum would be rescheduled. If you would like to speak with me or have any questions about my candidacy, flyers and my contact information are in the back of the room. Having lived in La Verne all of my life, our city is very important to me. I attended La Verne public schools and graduated from the University of La Verne. I am a self-employed insurance broker and have proudly operated my business in La Verne for 42 years. I have a history of community service, including helping under-resourced residents access health insurance pro bono through Medi-Cal. Serving the Hillcrest community is a priority for me. My grandparents, Harry and Margaret Blickenstaff. were residents; my mother Nadine Johnson is a current resident here; my wife Lori Castellano, and I are on the wait list, and I served on the board of directors for 10 years. Hillcrest was in a financial crisis when I served on the board, and management asked me to extend my term, which I did without hesitation. During my time on the board, I helped Hillcrest to become financially sustainable during the major construction projects of the meeting house, the pool, and the newer roads. My top three priorities are: One, continue my perfect attendance by our city council meetings by remaining attentive to residents' needs by serving and giving back to the community. Two, ensure a fiscally responsible budget so resources are allocated efficiently, allowing the City of La Verne to sustain and enhance essential services; and three, advocate for ongoing operation of our police and fire departments, so they have the necessary resources to continue providing outstanding services to our community. It is an honor to serve District One, and I look forward to continuing to work with you and our neighbors. Sincerely, Stephen Frank Johnson, current City Council Member.

Richard Bowen

Good evening. My name is Richard Bowen. I'm running for District Three. I moved here in 1983. I raised my family here. Next month I will celebrate my 49th wedding anniversarym, this weekend will be a birthday. Actually, I moved here to raise my family, send them to good schools, of which they did. They went through the Bonita school system. They all graduated. They're all great. I'm running because I see what is happening to our city, as far as the finances, in particular, and I find that we're beginning to run a deficit. We have not done that before. We are raising fees to everyone. I don't know how you were affected here by the recent water increase, I was on that committee. I voted against it. I was outvoted three to one or three to two, and when it finally came to the council, it was overturned and lowered, but still not enough as far as I was concerned. I'm concerned about our finances. I'm concerned about the way that this city will be in a few short years. The city manager claims that in two years we start running out of funds, and at least eating into our reserves. So that is my main concern. But also, if you get a flyer, I think the citizens have lost their voice. We go to council meetings, and if any of you go to council meetings, you'll have to wait two to three hours to have your voice heard, comments at the end versus at the beginning. I will fight for that. The city organization chart says citizens first, council second, and that the city management team reports to the council. I will tell you, I feel, and people that go to the council meetings feel that it's reversed. The city makes the decisions. Council does their bidding, and we, the citizens, do not get to have our voices heard. I will fight for that. I will also fight to get rid of district voting. I think that's a disservice to all of us, and especially in a city the size of La Verne, 32,000 people, we should all get to vote every year. I appreciate your support. I need your vote. Thank you.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Good evening, everybody. Trying to use my indoor army voice today. Thank you for the organizers and everybody here tonight getting together. Your participation helps shape this amazing city that we call home. I am Meshal. Kash Kashifilgita, Kash for short, and I have the privilege of serving on your city council. I'm a husband, a father, a law enforcement professional, and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve, where I still serve to this day. Throughout my career in public safety, military service, and leadership. I've been entrusted with difficult decisions, accountability, and protecting the people I serve. Those experiences guide how I approach my responsibilities on this council. We listen carefully, ask hard questions and follow through. Public safety is my first priority. It has been that way since I first came on city council because it affects everything we do. Later, you'll hear me talk about the 3s's in life and why that pyramid is so important. Now I'll get to them, but our children deserve safe routes to school. Our businesses deserve an environment where they can thrive. And when an emergency occurs, residents need that confidence, that help will arrive quickly, and the city is prepared. Learning that level of service requires responsible financial decisions. We must support our law enforcement professionals and all our public safety and our firefighters, and maintain our streets and essential infrastructure. And the plan for the future needs a clear understanding of what we can afford, because every dollar we spend belongs to the public, and every commitment we make must be sustainable. I am seeking re-election because I care deeply about this city, this city that I have come to live since 1982. I have gone to all the schools here. I raised my family here. My kids went to schools here, and unfortunately, I buried both my parents at the La Verne Cemetery right here. We are La Verne strong, and we will never waver. I bring you these experiences working across agencies, evaluating risk, setting priorities, and holding organizations accountable. My military background has taught me preparation and teamwork. My public safety career has taught me that decisions have real consequences for families, and my service on this council has taught me the importance of being accessible and responsible to each and every single one of you. My priorities are clear: strong public safety, responsible budget, reliable infrastructure, and a thoughtful development that respects our neighbors and community character. We will remain La Verne strong. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

So, first of all, we have a structural deficit, meaning we are spending more year over year than we are bringing in. We are leveraging our one-time dollars to pay for recurring expenses-that is a problem. Our largest funding sources are property taxes and Measure LV, meaning the money is coming straight from the residents' pockets. We are only bringing in about $5 million in tax revenue. Compare that to Claremont-we're about $6 million short. Yet we have our own police, and we have our own fire. We have services here that are too expensive for us to continue going to the pockets of our residents. So we have to get creative about economic development fees, partnerships, and new source revenues. This is 90 seconds, it's not enough time. We do have some pretty interesting things. We have an A line coming in. I would like to see that corridor develop, where there are businesses directing the A-line directly to our old town businesses, so that we increase tax revenue. However, what we need ultimately is a strategy, a very clear multi-year strategy that is going to look at this city, do a gap analysis, understand our opportunities and threats, and then actually pursue good revenue sources. Claremont has a car dealership that undergirds their economics. We don't have that.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

This is a critical issue for our city. The largest tax revenue generator we had a few years, many years ago now, was Purse and Port. We no longer have that kind of tax-generating business. We have a lot of gyms. They're great, but they're not tax-generating. And I grew up as a salesperson. I worked my way up as a local sales rep to become president of a 30 million dollar company. I know what it takes to bring new business, and I know what it takes to have a P and L, and I know what it takes to not outspend your revenue and find sources. And opportunities do not just fall out of the sky. You have to have someone dedicated to going out there and asking and getting new businesses to come to the City and look at what type of businesses we need versus many that show up. Grocery stores are notorious, but they don't generate a lot of taxes. So we need someone to go out and be the star and be the salesperson for La Verne. We have a great city. We are geographically somewhat limited in terms of who wants to come here because of our location, but we have to have somebody go out and do that. And I would be that person. Thank you.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Thank you. The role of economic development is incumbent upon each and every single one of our council members-not one individual-we don't need to hire one individual to come and say we need economic development. That's incubanant on each one of us, each and every single council member, has actively engaged in other businesses that they bring into our great city. We've seen that in recent recent Traders' Joe's, with Grocery Outlet. All these are important things. Why they important? Because it helps sustain our city. We have that opportunity, but remember one thing: we don't own these businesses. The City doesn't own these businesses, the building structure itself. So it's also dependent upon the businesses that own it, the commercial area, to hold some sense of responsibility also to gather and search and find. We as a city, we do that. You see that, and help us all of that. So that indefinitely, for each and every council member, have that individual hall. I have extensively gone out to other companies and asked them to come to look for. I think we pride in that, but I will make the ultimate decision. The business company that has the warehouse or that has the office space, you know, they have to get into negotiations with that. But I can tell you this: a lot of good things are coming to La Verne, and if you take the time to go look out there, you don't really see many open businesses that are just plain offices. So take a little look around. We're La Verne strong. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

Yeah, those are all different questions and big questions. But first, I am proposing the District One Improvement Plan. Pillar Two on that plan is my preparedness and safety. One, we establish and expand neighborhood watch programs. Two, I am a part of the CERT team. We need to expand that program as much as possible to get as many people prepared as possible. Three, we need to look at our emergency operations plan. This city has an outdated plan. Nobody's looking at it. This evacuation should have been the reason for us to do so. We're not. Fourth, we need to enhance our strategic communication system. We need to have redundancies built into our communications so that residents not only receive one alert. They receive several alerts from different sources, even as analog as text messages. Something that goes directly to your pocket, goes to your email, and on social media. Those redundancies will help ameliorate some of the disconnect that we had in this recent issue. Big—Traffic planning and enforcement; these are big issues that are at the forefront of the residents' minds that are not being addressed. The fire issue-that is an economic development question. We need to shore up our revenue so that we are alleviating those financial constraints that prevent us from being able to pay the people who care for us.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

This is a critical issue for the City. We have our own fire. We have our own PD, and they need to be funded. We need to figure out how we're going to keep them. Recently, there was a dispute. In fact, it's an ongoing dispute between the City and the EMTs in the fire department. It's not been settled. It's been out there, and the City should make our people honor the MOU. There's a lot of dispute about that, but you can't have a fire department that is fighting with the people they're supposed to be protecting. They are dedicated individuals, as are police. We have to address this. We have to look at how to support them. I have supported them for 10 years, going back to when we started LV3C, and we will continue to support those organizations from our city.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Thank you. I've always said that preparedness begins before an emergency occurs. La Verne needs strong coordination among our fire department, our police department, our public works, utilities, neighbor, and neighboring agencies, and regional emergency management partners. We should continue reviewing evacuation routes, wildfire mitigation, emergency access, backup communications, and the needs of the residents who may require additional assistance during evacuation or a power outage. Communication is especially important. Residents need to know where the reliable information will come before an emergency occurs. We owe that to you, not while you're trying to figure out what to do during a crisis. That means encouragement, enrollment in emergency notification systems, conducting community preparedness education and exercises, and communicating through multiple channels. Our fire department already coordinates in community emergency preparedness, and the City provides emergency alerts, as some of you have already received during the last incident we had. We should build upon those systems and continually evaluate them. The goal is simple: Prepare beforehand, so we're not trying to develop a plan during an active emergency.

Thomas Allison

I'm not going to answer that question as phrase because I think the question or the answer should be more strategic and planned. We have a capital improvement process that the City has a list of capital improvements we're seeking funding for. I would seek to democratize that process a bit more, get resident involvement and input on that process as well as the timetable. I think a couple variables that should be considered are one, since we're talking about resilient infrastructure, one, the cost of deferred maintenance. What happens if we do nothing? Second, what are the needs that are driving that particular maintenance? Third, what is the value to be received from that maintenance? And fourth, an overall strategic cost-benefit analysis that aligns those needs and that value with the overall strategic outlook of the City. Again, doing things piecemeal means that we don't take a strategic approach. All of our water bills skyrocketed because we're all asked to pay for these expensive infrastructure upgrades all of a sudden, as opposed to taking incremental approaches along the way. And I think a little bit more strategy and strategic planning in that process could alleviate such burdens on our residents.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

I was on the water committee, and I was kind of shocked when they were talking about a five-year plan moving forward, the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). I asked, "Well, what have you done in the past? And the answer was, we haven't done it. We haven't followed our CIP. So my question was, well, now we're going to promise what we're going to do, but we haven't done anything for five years. And to quote the mayor, he said it was due to past mismanagement. Well, we have two incumbents, and they've been there for four years. We have a mayor, unfortunately, that's been there a long time. But you've got to say, well, if it wasn't done, who's responsible? And you can always say what you're going to do. I question: What have you done? I was on that committee. The water is a huge issue. The sewer, you know, it's one thing when you turn on the faucet, you can go buy water. You sure can't buy a sewage system. That has to be a priority. We've ignored it. We need someone in charge. There is a person in charge, but somebody actually does the work and look at the infrastructure and take care of it and make things work. We have an evacuation plan we need absolutely, because again, if all that fails, we just had a wind issue. What if we have in earthquake? Please, we have to look at this. Thank you.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Some of these questions remind me of the last candidate forum. So, infrastructure should be prioritized based on public safety, condition, service reliability, and the financial consequences of delayed maintenance. Water and sewer infrastructure are especially important because failures can be extremely expensive and disruptive. Streets, stormwater systems, sidewalks, parks, and other facilities also require consistent investment rather than waiting until something fails. The City has already been examining the long-term financial requirements of its water and sewer systems, including ensuring that new development pays its appropriate share of infrastructure impacts. We also need better coordination whenever possible. If we're going to open a street for water, sewer, or utility work, we should coordinate projects so we aren't repeatedly tearing up the same street in the same road over and over. I support long-range capital planning that identifies infrastructure needs years ahead. Establishes priorities and gives residents greater visibility to when projects occur. Preventative maintenance almost always costs less than emergency replacement. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

Again, this goes back to strategy. I have my District One Improvement Plan. That's going to talk about that. But first, I think we need to look strategically. I'm going to say strategy a lot. That's one of my favorite words. But businesses have needs, and I ran a business for 10 years. And the way a city is designed to do business can be a reason companies go or don't come at all. So we need to make sure that our onboarding and our implementation process is aligned with ease and synergies that allow our businesses in. Second, once they're in, we need to make sure we are providing them the resources. We have a university that is right here. We can collaborate with that university to provide critical support to businesses to help them with their compliance and other operational elements. Finally, I think the way that we design the City, the way that we enhance and celebrate our diversity, these are all reasons for a business to come to a city. La Verne has to show the world that we are not only a place for investment, but we are a place for great investment, and the people here love this community. That needs to be showcased, and it needs to be seen in the relationships that we have with our businesses. Finally, I have an idea called asset mapping, where every single person is aware of the businesses and nonprofits in this district and in this city that provides our residents services, so we know where to go and patronize first. Those are just a few ideas.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

You have to have you have to have somebody in charge. I keep hearing about what we should do. I keep asking, "What have you done? All of these are not new things. These have been issues facing this city for many years. So when I hear somebody say, "Well, this is what we should do. This is what we should do, but they're on the council. I say, "Well, what have you done? And if we don't have anybody leading the charge, again, I was a sales guy, and you have to go actively find businesses. You have to sell them on being La Verne, the reason the great city that we are. Why should you come here? But somebody has to be in charge, and I ask, who is it? Because as far as I can hear, "we" who's we? We need somebody. Thank you.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Our local businesses are an essential part of both our economy and our community identity. City government should make it easier, not necessarily harder, for responsible businesses to invest here in La Verne. That means reviewing our permitting processes that we have, providing clear expectations, communicating with applicants when they come to our great city and request their business to be open here. Supporting our commercial districts. Let's not forget we have a great vibrant commercial district down south La Verne, and working collaboratively with organizations such as our local business community, our chamber that we have, along with other educational institutions, let's not forget how many cities have their own police, fire, university, and the urban. But I don't believe that government develops means accepting every single proposal that comes into our city. We have to be strategic in that, provide that service to our communities so that they can thrive. We should pursue businesses and investment that strengthen our tax base and provide services residents want that fit the character of La Verne. We are oftentimes asked, you know, why do we have so many grocery stores? Why do we have so many gyms? But think about it: one gym goes even a whole parking lot full of people trying to find a parking spot and get to their clients? Or why do we have so many grocery stores? Why not? We just had a lovely local family built in every grocery store and providing food for people that can afford it during these tough times. And why not? And we'll continue to stay La Verne strong.

Thomas Allison

Yeah, as I understand it, there will be some mixed-use developments that are going in on Arrow. There would also, I'm hoping, and the way I would like to see it is more mixed-use in District One along First Street, and that will help build out that economic development corridor that I discussed earlier. There's going to be heavy traffic coming down Arrow, not only through the A line, but with the Olympics and other events that are coming and being planned out and and built out for that opportunity would be of a great advantage to the City. So the mixed use development down there that's something I would really like to see. With regard to traffic planning, my experience on the planning commission is, whenever you're approving these developments, a traffic study is completed, and we have to make sure that there are proper mechanisms for ingress and egress that will not be too disruptive to the existing traffic conditions. But that is all a study that becomes a part of the planning and design of whatever developments that are placed there, and that's something that as the City Council and the planning commission will need to be vigilant to ensure that we're mindful of.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

I went to an EIFD meeting. It's my understanding that the loan has a long-term projection for 10,000 10,000 housing units in the northern part of the Fairplex. Can you imagine what that will do to La Verne? It won't be here, but it will certainly affect all parts of our life. Will many of them people come into Old Town and go to restaurants? Sure, but I think the overall effect is going to be kind of absolutely critical. As far as traffic, you can't get through an Arrow Highway now. I'm really wondering what our plan is for that area, because once that activity starts, number one, it's going to be a mess when they start. Now, I also understand that they're not getting the companies that want to do those things. That the economy right now is not; they're not seeing the information and the requirements generated right now. So long term it's going to have a huge effect. We have to have a long term plan.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Well, the proposals that I that I've heard only as City Council that the last four years that I've been there, and these were only regarding the stadium that they have there-they're getting out there getting cricket. That's all we've heard. I don't know what other rumors people are talking about with the development of 10,000 units or something like that. That's not going to happen in my lifetime. I hope to live to at least 90 years. That's me. I can tell you this. Really, what I love to see there-I love to see that Fairplex get back. Where the young kid needs to go down there, it is greatly enjoyed. I love to see some, maybe some development. We talk about restaurants up there, but when we talk about development, just understand La Verne does not own an entire Fairplex. La Verne only has this old small portion there, and even that portion where we're talking about the driveways up there, and even now. I'd love to see another opportunity. I'd love to see another car race out there. Get people more engaged in the community, getting off their phones and going to the fair. Look at the numbers of the fair; they get drops and comes back up in the moment. See that broad. Love to see some horse races back there. Look at opportunity for people in our community to go enjoy the great outdoors. We don't have much space. We already have traffic, and well, you know, if you think about it, if you want any sort of development that's going to impact traffic, I'm not an engineer, but that's why we hired the best to give us that feedback, that study to tell us what needs to be done, whether it's a bridge, whether it's digging a tunnel or whatever it may be, but we have to listen to that. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

Yeah, I've I've knocked most of the doors in my district, and there are some real issues that are impacting our residents. First, our residents want to see things slow down. They think traffic is way too fast around District One. When I was a board member on Hillcrest and a planning commissioner, I always called for the speed down Bonita to be reduced around Kuns Park because we know a lot of seniors and youth congregate there. Second, they want to see speed bumps down the alleys because people are speeding down alleys to get their kids to school, and it's causing a health and safety risk to the residents living there. Third, there are people on the east side of White who need to make their way to Roynan, and they're having an incredibly difficult time crossing White. And so we need to make sure we have good crosswalks for people to make it to school and back on time. The residents on the east side of White are incredibly concerned that there's no bike lane or no buffer between the sidewalk and the street on White, even though it is a busy corridor and people are walking. One of the things that I learned walking this district is Bonita is one of the flattest places in the City, so we have senior citizens from all over the City come and walk Bonita. That should be a pristine walking district where everybody can come and walk and feel safe. That is not the way it is now. Not necessarily. We need to make it safer. These are all things I'm hearing from the residents. I have a few more, but I'll stop.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

I think one of the primary issues with all traffic is whether it's pedestrian, bikes, or autos, is number one they all got to get along. We have limited streets in terms of the size. You cannot broaden streets. You can certainly narrow them, and we've seen cities like Claremont, when they narrow Baseline, nobody gets in the bike lane, and the streets have become Foothill has become terribly narrow. We can't allow that here. I understand the Foothill Transit wants to do that on on Foothill in our city. Just try to imagine what that would look like. Arrow Highway is already being addressed based on the Olympics and based on the cricket coming into that city. So we have to have people to get along. Can you put bike lanes everywhere? No, I believe we have done a very good job. Are there new places to put them? Absolutely, but it has to be considerate of the vehicles. The primary way that people get around here is in cars. We have to acknowledge that, and we have to build a structure that incorporates all three entities.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

the room. Number one, safety is my priority. I'd like to see at least first what problems that we currently have in our city that prevents people from going out biking, walking, or those that have, they need wheelchairs and accessible walks for them. I like to have that. Unfortunately, we don't hear much about what's going on regularly. We hear about the e-bikes and the problems that happen there. But regarding the bike lanes, we've established many bike lanes. Take a look around our great city. Many people say, you know, we're just districts. We represent the whole city. I've gone around from Arrow Highway all the way up to Golden Hills. You've seen that being able to have any bike lanes for people to travel, like a little bit more education for our kids, be able to get out there and get to school back and forth. Our seniors to be able to walk in the community and feel safe in that community at night. The idea that you're developing anything else or roads or whatever the case might be really is not going to happen unless you feel safe to be able to go outside and walk. When's the last time you talked to your grandchildren, your children said, "Hey, come on for a walk, and I don't have to worry about it. You know, the wonderful part about the La Verne-you don't have to worry. You have a strong law enforcement presence getting out there for you to enjoy that time.

Thomas Allison

I don't want to sound insensitive. People are obviously in a tough situation economically that leads to their displacement, but you can't deny that there are more transient individuals wandering the streets of La Verne. I'm speaking to the residents, I have direct narratives of people finding people camped out in their backyards, going through their trash cans in the middle of the night, waking up to people outside their front door. On April 14th, I had somebody try and get into my front door and window because of a mental health issue. Things are getting a little out of control, and that's partly what motivated me to run. My kids, every single night, want me to check every door and window in this beautiful, safe city of La Verne. We are not feeling safe, and this A line is causing externalities that need to be planned around. That is why one of the pillars of my district improvement plan is enhancing neighborhood watch, is enhancing CERT, and is enhancing a neighbor helping neighbor initiative, so that we have more eyes, ears, and mouths on the street, and we are able to communicate updates as they're happening in real time. But to say nothing has changed, I think misses the mark fundamentally.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

The impact is clearly that it's growing. We see people in parks, we see people in businesses, and they say, "Well, the businesses have to control that-that the police can't remove them. They can ask them, and if people say no, the police say they really can't do much else. Talk to the fire department. The fire department says that since the Metro or the A Line has come in, their responses have gone up decidedly, and people get off the A line and they immediately call for emergency services. In La Verne, that means our fire department goes down there, takes people, and eventually maybe takes them to Pomona Valley Hospital, which ties up our fire department. Our police are doing, I think, a very good job. But this is only going to grow, and I would ask everybody in this room: How many of you have taken the A Line? You feel safe. You take it at night. You feel safe? Yes. Well, you read all the time where people say that's great, but after eight, 9o'clock, no way. So we have to address this. We have to address it now. It's going to be a bigger problem, longer it goes on. Closer to LA answer with the Olympics, we're going to see a huge increase.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

I spoke to the police chief and asked for the calls for service regarding the A Line in regards to those that are, maybe, unfortunately suffering from homelessness. Right? Not in regards to that. I haven't heard one single call for service regarding homelessness, regarding robbery, a kidnapping, murder, any other sort of violation of the penal code. Homelessness does exist absolutely, but not just because of A Line. We have other means of transportation here. People come to our city. We have to address that. I was your first council member—that in a long time hasn't been done— I helped create that municipal code for vagrancy. I have to provide. people a safe opportunity so they can thrive in our community and not allow those that are suffering from homelessness—which, by the way, we also established some mental response team that goes out—provides them the service that they need, and if they refuse the service they are welcome to leave. This is how it works. We're here to help. If you don't want the help, have a nice day. We're not going to have that. Not going to have that in our parks. Not going to have that. But you're not going to see any calls for service since it opened up. Now, maybe we should talk about proximity. Well, maybe on my little lane, I can't stop people from walking, getting on the bus. Let me tell you, the A Line itself, there's many people that work for all sorts of governments, including private and federal, that use that train each and every single day and feel safe there. So unless there's a call to service, I haven't been made aware. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

Transcript timestamp: 1:00:53

First, I want to challenge the framing that bringing in more affordable housing will alter our quality of life. La Verne has a lot of affordable housing already, and that's where we see some of our highest levels of volunteerism. Our mobile home parks are affordable housing, and the amount of community and efforts that we get from there is extraordinary. So I don't think just having affordable housing is going to disrupt our quality of life first. Second, I think the City could be heavier-handed in the development requirements for affordable housing. For instance, I believe it's 15% of a development has to be affordable. Well, the City makes deals all the time where if you build a development up there, we'll let you build all the affordable housing down south-that's ridiculous. We need to be more vigilant about one, making sure developments include affordable housing in the actual development, so there's housing inclusion. Second, we have to be mindful of how we are placing our affordable housing, so that we are not over-encumbering any particular resources or infrastructure in any particular part of the City. This other thing, and this is a pie in the sky dream, we've been talking about public banking. That this, to me, I get it. It's a very long-term project, but we're talking about long-term. This allows an opportunity for the City to open up an ability for people who work in the City to be able to afford to live in the City by offering down payment assistance and other mortgage assistance. These are all things that can happen in a public bank.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

I would love to hear, I hear the word affordability. I would love to hear a definition. I see multi-unit houses, multi-story houses going up, and I hear they're 6,7,800,000 dollars. I guess that's affordable. I'm not really sure, but like I said, I'd love to hear a definition of that. $800,000, $900,000 for a two or three bedroom condo seems still pretty high. We have a limited area in this city. I moved here, the reason I moved here, there was a lot of signs because there was a lot of building going on. I bought one of the the Hughes homes right off Baseline and Wheeler, but there's no land anymore. The only two major partials left are the LHS, the Lutheran High School, and Sierra La Verne. Sierra La Verne is unbuildable, but you've got a guy that wants to build there, and he is a developer. So I think we have to be very careful. And there's pockets, unfortunately, most of the pockets in our south city, but there's still very little room down there. So we are going to have to have a planning committee. We're going to have to have a finance committee that looks and says, "Can we afford it? Can we afford the water? Can we afford the electricity? There's a lot of issues that have to be dealt with.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

When I ask that question, I oftentimes think about my children, and I think, how are we they going to be able to afford a home here in this city, a county, or state? A lot of families have left our good cities to go elsewhere. And I ask them why. Well, it's not affordable. I'd like to figure out a way we can, you know, talk about development where it's needed and it makes sense. Let's develop. But the reality is, there's only certain areas in La Verne that you can do that. That's all you have to give people opportunity to build on their own land. I believe that no one should be told what to do on their own land. That's their land. If you want to build an ADU, go ahead. You want to bring your mother, your father, your grandmother, you want to have them come live with you. You have a room in your area. Build away. I will never shy from that because there's nothing like developing and keeping your family close to you until such time that they can afford it and be able to get out and get their own home. I'm looking forward to them coming to La Verne, but there's not many areas here in La Verne to get that. We talk about affordability. We talk about your teacher, your police officer, your firefighter, your public servant, your government employee-roles that make a certain dollar amount would have to qualify for only so much, and we don't control those rates. We don't control the housing costs as a city. It's not something we do. But what we can do is that when people have opportunity to develop, I'd like to at least give that opportunity to our citizens first here in La Verne that they can be able to purchase those homes at the rate based on their salary. Thank you.

Thomas Allison

So first, I have the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Initiative, and basically, that is a communication network that, if it goes to the maximum possibility of the vision, every neighbor will be connected with a communication network where announcements are being put out in a one-way fashion. Will also again build in redundancy, so there's chat capability and undergird that with social media programming. So the Neighbor Helping Neighbor, I can give you all the details. She's going to take away my time, so I can't now. Second, quarterly town halls. I am committing to a town hall every single quarter for District One, and two of them will probably need to be held here in order to get the best venue. So I will bring democracy out, and finally I will bring democracy to your front door. Every single year, I am committing to walking the district just like I have this election twice. I'm going to do it again. I will walk the district and make door-to-door contact with District One residents to one, ensure that you are kept informed, and to collect data of issues that are pertinent to the City. Finally, districts aren't that big. This is why I think there's some magic here. I was talking to some people, developing a welcoming packet when a person moves into La Verne, working with their agent or their property manager to ensure we are delivering a welcome packet that has all the programs for the year, who they can contact if they need to, etc. We'll send the message.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

Number one, I would ask to have a city website that's user friendly. A lot of people, if you talk to them, they say, the City will tell you it's very user-friendly. Well, it's for the people who design it. Unfortunately, for the people who try to use it, it's not always the same. You put in search, you search for something, and you get a whole list of things. It's almost like calling and getting an AI person on the phone, so we need something that works. Also, LV3C has had forums for years, and I asked the City years ago, we shouldn't do it. We're private group. The City should do it, and the City said, Yeah, you're right. We should. We've never done it. We did one here at 10 o'clock in the morning on a Monday, and that was it. You don't inform the citizens of the City by having something at 10 o'clock in the morning on a Monday. You can do quarterly functions, and you invite all the City, all the citizens to have their voices heard. I am running on a citizens- first platform. The citizens have to have their voices heard so that the next time we have an election, people understand what has gone on in the City versus what has been promised for the.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

One thing I learned that everybody has a cell phone, correct? And everybody has means of communication. I ask you, the citizens, to opt into my idea. What I'm looking to do is provide you, I don't want to text you to death, right? I don't keep on any of the text and text messages, but texting is so important for me to get that information out to you as your council member. Remember, we are a city of one, not by district. So I serve the entire city just because I'm in District Three doesn't mean I can't help anybody that goes down on the south end of of La Verne or Walnut or the north end. All right, so let's get that clear. Remember two, like I said regarding the cell phone, you have to opt in. We have a great website. We have an app. I know some of you may not be able to get to that app or website, but you can get to your phone. And then the second thing I'd like to do again, you have to opt into it. The City will send you out a message. I've seen it happen in political campaigns where they'll send text messages, like robo texts, but that's kind of boring, right? But hey, I want to give you something on a monthly basis, letting you know is what we're going to do. Second thing is, I'd like to develop something I wanted to do. I'm looking forward to doing it, but I need again you, the people, to help me, which is to create a team captain in our community. And a team captain, we come out and let you know that there's an emergency, identify accountability, and letting you know many current issues that we have here in the City, and a friendly reminder: we have two Xity Council meetings, and we are there from 5:30 in the evening till till 10,11, 12:30. Maybe we'll always stay around for help. Okay, God

Thomas Allison

Thank you. I have enough outside perspective to appreciate the gift of La Verne. I also have enough inside perspective to fully understand and appreciate La Verne's culture, where it is headed, and how we will get there. From my experience getting my business degree, more than a decade owning my own business and working in businesses, I understand the obstacles that businesses face in the City. And as a council member, I would work to diligently remove those obstacles. As a lawyer, I bring technical skills, document review, critical thinking, but I also bring transferable skills like independent thinking, communication, and critical analysis. My master's and doctorate degrees uniquely prepare me and situate me to be able to execute on the fiscal sustainability and performance plan that I'm proposing. The District One Improvement Plan that I am proposing, as well as my quarterly town halls and door-to-door annual meetings. All of this will help enhance public participation in our political process. I have learned by knocking on the doors of my residents that the greatest asset in La Verne is the residents itself, and so I will rely on the legacies of those who've come before me in reshaping the way that we govern in La Verne. What I mean by that is, I will bring democracy to your front door. I will not require you to have to come to City Hall to be heard, but I will bring City Hall to you. That same sort of governance that made La Verne special, again fitting in with the traditions of La Verne's historic leadership. I will bring a form of governance that proposes new ideas to staff, not wait for staff to bring new ideas to me because I have the energy, I have the creativity, and I have the wherewithal to execute. The contributions of the many legacies that continue to permeate the walls, the culture, and the students for generation after generation at the university, is what shapes the way that I see this world. The impacts of recently departed individuals such as Hillcrest board member attorney extraordinaire Carol Wheatley, museum curator and historian Khalif Rashan, who would also tell the stories of Rodney Davis and my friend and GPAC buddy Wayne Hurley, they will continue to shape how I seek service to this great community. tRe individuals here who continue to influence my life on a daily basis: former Mayor Don Kendrick, Mayor Tim Hepburn, Emmett Terrell, Barbara Smythe, Blaine Hard, Gilbert Ivy, Peggy Redman, and literally the dozens and countless of other people who enrich me and my family's lives on a daily basis will continue to encourage me and inspire me to devote everything I have to this great city. Thank you.

Steve Johnson

Not present. No live response recorded.

Richard Bowen

I've been going to council meetings for 10 years. I've probably been to more council meetings than most of the people in the council at this time. I've seen no dialog or relatively none. My opponent just said, "Come to the council meetings, and you'll have dialog. Hey, you don't have dialog. You have, you listen to them speak, and if you're lucky and you wait 2-3-4, hours, you might get your three-minute comments. But under the Brown Act, they don't respond, so there is no dialog. Again, I've sat there for 10 years, and I think that that is wrong. Number one, so I want to say here, I'm running on citizens first. I want to review the finances of this city. We were promised a state review audit years ago. Suddenly, people got into office, and that was not done. And it suddenly became a non-issue. Why not? We need an audit. Any good business audits themselves periodically to see how things are being done, where the money is spent, is it spent in the right way. So I will fight for that. I will also fight for, as I said, to bring the citizen comments first, so they don't have to sit there for days to have their three minutes in front of the council. I will look at the infrastructure. What are we doing? What have we done, versus what we continue to promise to do? Promising to do something does not say what you've done. You've got to hold people accountable. Also, police and fire. Primarily, we've got to have a good, strong police and fire. The City is facing potential growth in the next few years. Again, with the the Olympics coming, and we have to have a good system, we have to have our infrastructure, we have to have our water, we have to have our sewer. So that is critical to me, and it will be the thing I fight for, and also go back to at large voting. Everyone should get a chance to vote every two years versus having to wait four years and only vote for 20% of the City's population. I believe that is wrong. I believe it was wrong when they did it, and I will fight to have it reversed. Vote for Rick District Three. Thank you.

Meshal "Kash" Kashifalghita

Well, thank you for the organizers, amazing people that came here today to hear what I say to leaders, because it takes candidates to be leaders. That's what it takes in leadership. Thank you again. I have spent 55 years combined public service. I'm 50 years old. I have well over 27 years in law enforcement, over 25 years in God's great United States Army, and I have served you, here in this great city of La Verne. I mentioned to you the 3s's of life that I continue to believe in life. Safety and security is one of them. I want you to be able to be safe in your homes. I want you to be able to safe in this wonderful community. I want you to feel safe when you go to the store. That has always been my priority. Where the La Verne Police Department's model is no call us too small, give us a call, and you'll see. Shelter. Not too long ago, we're able to provide an expansion for this great community. Why? Because I believe in you. I believe in giving people the opportunity for shelter, home, to expand. Why not us? Why not you? That's what we do as a community. I was your council member that approved that. Others did not want that. Not the council though, the council all approved it. Sustains food for you to have that opportunity. Our wonderful community service department in Parks and Rec now gives that opportunity for seniors to come and eat. And when we fell short, I paid for that. I don't like to brag, but I never like to see anybody in need. And whatever I can do, I will always do. I never shy away from that. I never shy away from an argument. I have thick skin. I have no problem as long as you're respectful. This is a wonderful community we are asking for by diversity. What a wonderful diverse community we have of all ages, all colors, all creeds. I am an immigrant. Yes, I was even told the last time you're not American, you're Iraqi. That's okay. I am a multiple combat tourist. In the famous words of Ronald Reagan, I will tell you this. He said that really inspired me. He says you can go to Italy and become Italian. You go to Japan and become Japanese. But you can come from all over the world and come to this great country and become American. Don't you ever forget that? That is who we are. We are La Verne strong, and we'll continue to fight for this wonderful city that I call home. God bless you.