La Verne City Council discussed a proposed Public Art Fund ordinance and policy and asked staff to revise it.

The draft set fees on new development at 0.5% of value under $500,000 and 1% at $500,000 or more. Mayor Tim Hepburn pushed for a full review chain of Development Review Committee, Planning Commission, and Council; Mayor Pro Tem Meshal Kashifalghita wanted a timeline and The Historical Society's Sherry Best to review accuracy. The fund holds about $671,000, largely from Gilead Sciences. No vote was taken; staff will return with a revised draft.

City Council Member Wendy Lau was absent.

🔗 Sept. 21 City Council Meeting Agenda Packet

West Nile Virus in LA County?

A mosquito carrying West Nile virus was found in a trap near Heritage Park, according to City Manager Ken Domer, who said the City received a notice from Los Angeles County Vector Control District on Sept. 21.

Mayor Pro Tem Meshal Kashifalghita and Domer shared mosquito-control tips during the meeting, including eliminating standing water and clogged rain gutters, rain barrels, and buckets.

I'll follow up with the City to find out what measures they are taking for mosquito control.

You can find more information about mosquito control available through the Los Angeles Department of Public Health

Other Topics

• The Council approved the minutes from its Sept. 8 meeting as part of the consent calendar.
• The Council adopted the 2026 update to the City's Conflict of Interest Code, which is reviewed every two years. The update reflects the Community Services Department's reorganization into the Parks & Recreation Department, along with changes to position titles.
• Mayor Tim Hepburn presented a Hispanic Heritage Month proclamation.
• Jasmine Cuevas, a district representative for state Sen. Susan Rubio, announced Operation Gobble, a turkey giveaway event. More information to come.
• First-year students from Western University of Health Sciences introduced themselves to the Council.
• The Council adjourned in memory of Wayne Hurley, John Malarkey and Joel (Dick) Bates.

Coming Up

• Public Art Fund, revised draft and first reading: Staff will bring back a revised Public Art Fund ordinance and policy based on Council direction. The changes add Planning Commission and Council review, input from local artists, a timeline and review by the Historical Society. No date has been set.
• Candidates forum: The first candidates forum is Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the La Verne Community Center.
• Next regular City Council meeting: Monday, Oct. 5. Closed and study sessions start at 5:30 p.m., and the regular meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Note to readers: An AI platform called Civilio was use to transcribe and draft this report based on a recording from the Sept. 8 City Council meeting. If you see an error, please email staci@lavernedaily.org. See my Corrections Policy for more information about how I handle corrections.

👥 Next City Council Meeting

Monday, Oct. 5, 6:30 p.m. | Join in person at City Hall in the Council Chambers, by Zoom at LaVerneCA.gov/zoom, or by phone by calling 1-669-900-6833 (Enter ID when prompted. ID will be available in the meeting agenda packet.)

Tentative Agenda for Oct. X Meeting

Presentations

Administrative Items

• Water Master Plan Update
• Walk of Honor Update

✅ Consent Calendar

Council minutes and demands—The council will approve minutes from the Sept. 8 meeting and a register of audited demands totaling just over $2 million for the period of Aug. 23 through Sept. 13.

Cleaning up the development impact fee code—This one sounds bureaucratic, but here's why it matters: the City has spent the past year updating the fees developers pay to help cover the cost of things like police, fire, parks, and roads that new development requires. Right now those rules are scattered across several sections of the municipal code. This item doesn't change any fee amounts—it consolidates the existing rules into one new chapter (3.18) so residents, developers and staff can find them in one place, and creates three new dedicated accounts to track how the money collected is spent on city administration, police and fire facilities separately. The council unanimously approved introducing this ordinance on first reading Sept. 8; Monday's vote formally adopts it.

Why it matters: clearer rules mean more accountability for how development-related fees are collected and spent—money meant for police, fire and public facilities can't get lost in the shuffle of the general budget.

Updating the conflict-of-interest code—Every two years, state law requires the City to review which positions must publicly disclose potential financial conflicts of interest. This update mostly reflects a department reorganization—the former Community Services Department is now Parks & Recreation—along with several other title changes across departments.

➡️ See pg. 49 in the Sept. 21 City Council Meeting Agenda Packet for more information

Why it matters: this is part of the basic transparency plumbing of local government—it determines which city employees have to disclose outside business interests that could influence their public decisions.

📢 Public Hearing

No public hearings are scheduled for this meeting.

Discussion Calendar

A Formal Framework for Public Art

This is one to watch. Since April, city staff have been developing a proposed ordinance and policy to create a more structured, proactive approach to funding public art throughout La Verne—building on a Public Art Fund that's already supported past projects around town.

Here's how it would work: new commercial, industrial and other nonresidential development, along with new multi-unit residential projects (accessory dwelling units and two-unit projects would be exempt), would be required to either install public art on-site or pay an in-lieu fee into the City's Public Art Fund—0.5% of a project's valuation for projects under $500,000, and 1% for projects at or above that threshold. Developers could also do a combination of both, subject to city approval.

City staff would use the fund for things like commissioning or maintaining public art, with priority given to civic buildings, parks, gateways into the City, and historic or culturally significant areas. Larger, fiscally significant public art projects would still need City Council approval; smaller implementation details could be handled administratively once a project is greenlit.

Monday's vote isn't final adoption—the council is being asked to review the draft and give staff direction on whether to move forward, and how.

A brief history: The City already has a public art requirement, but currently it only applies within the Arrow Corridor Specific Plan district. The staff report explicitly says the new fee percentages "are consistent with existing requirements for projects that require public art within the Arrow Corridor Specific Plan district." So the ordinance up for direction would essentially take a rule that already exists in one part of the City and extend it citywide to all new commercial, industrial, other nonresidential, and qualifying multi-unit residential development.

Read more about City Art around La Verne in this La Verne Magazine article from 2017

➡️ See pg. 58 in the Sept. 21 City Council Meeting Agenda Packet for more information

Why it matters: this would be a new cost line for developers building certain projects in La Verne, and a new, more predictable pipeline for public art residents see in daily life—at parks, gateways and civic buildings. If you have a stake in either side of that (as a developer, an artist, or simply someone who cares about how the City looks and feels), this is the moment to weigh in before the framework is set.

Looking ahead

The next council meeting is Monday, Oct. 5, with a study/closed session at 5:30 p.m. and the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Upcoming Dates to Note

Wednesday, September 30 - Candidates Forum, La Verne Community Center, 6-8 p.m.