Purchase of Two Police SUVs OK’d, But Decision on Truck Purchases Delayed

The City Council decided to purchase two new Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Sport Utility Vehicles but held off on purchasing three new Ford F-150 trucks.

The Pasadena Police Department currently deploys 36 patrol enforcement vehicles and five canine vehicles.

But just like the last several consent calendar purchases for gas vehicles, the City Council continues to push towards emissions-free vehicles.

Councilmember Jason Lyon called on the department to provide more information on its fleet, including which vehicles are aging out and what is pending.

Councilmember Tyron Hampton said he could not support more gas-powered vehicles.

“There are a lot of holes in these conversations,” Hampton said. “I am voting no on any gas vehicles.”

Public Works will soon look at each department’s progress to move to zero emissions and the infrastructure needs.

Currently, the City does not have the infrastructure in place.

That report should be completed in three to six months.

The City’s current fleet of enforcement units are worn and past their service limit. Forty-four percent are slated for replacement through the Public Works Building Services Fleet and Maintenance Division as part of the vehicle replacement program.

Here are the other items that passed on Monday’s consent calendar.

• The City Council on Monday voted to authorize the City Manager to amend a contract with the Sycamores, to increase the contract to $331,367 through June 30, 2025, for the provision of emergency shelter using motel vouchers. The addition of funds would sustain motel based shelter services for unaccompanied and parenting youth through Fiscal Year 2025. Sycamores is the lead agency for homeless services targeting transitional aged youth ages 18-24 in Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley. Sycamores is the only agency that applied for the youth set-aside funding to provide emergency shelter using motel vouchers under HHAP-1 and has been providing motel stays to youth with various grants awarded to the City since 2021. The amendment to the contract with Sycamores will be increased by $81,121. The contract was originally awarded as the result of a competitive RFP process. The scope of work will mirror the activities that were solicited in the original RFP, and the contract amendment will incorporate any additional funding source requirements. 

• Authorization to apply for encampment resolution funding with the state of California business consumer Services and Housing Agency; Approval if amendment to contract no. 32596 with Union Station Homeless Services subject to award of state funds. The state Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Program was established to increase collaboration between the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), local jurisdictions, and Continuums of Care for the following purposes: 1. Assist local jurisdictions in ensuring the safety and wellness of people experiencing homelessness in encampments. 2. Provide grants to local jurisdictions and Continuums of Care to resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing. 3. Encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach to address encampment concerns. In 2023, the City applied for and was awarded $2,080,379.50 of ERF Round 2 (ERF-2) funds which currently support a program co-administered by the Public Health Department and Union Station Homeless Services (“Union Station”). The ERF-2 program provides outreach, emergency shelter at motels, and housing navigation to people living in prioritized encampment sites on freeway embankments along the 210 and 134 freeways. The State has allocated $400 million for Round 3 of the ERF Program which was authorized in 2022 through Senate Bill 197 (Chapter 70, Statutes of 2022) and enacted under Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 31 of the California Health and Safety Code (HSC) (sections 50250 et seq.). The City will submit an application on or before April 30, 2024, and Cal IChl is expected to issue funding awards by June 30, 2024. All ERF-3 grant funds must be expended by June 30, 2027. ERF-3 funds may only be used for proposals that connect people experiencing homelessness in encampments to interim shelter with clear pathways to permanent housing or place people directly into permanent housing. If awarded funding, the existing ERF-2 program co-administered by the Public Health Department and Union Station will be expanded to serve individuals living in prioritized encampment sites throughout the City. The City’s proposed application will include funding for street outreach, motel vouchers and housing navigation for up to 36 people per year.

• A contract with Ewing Irrigation Products Inc. in an amount not to exceed $316,980 over a three-year period with the option of two one-year extensions in the annual amount of $105,660, at the discretion of the City Manager, for a maximum total contract length of five years and a grand total contract amount of $528,300. The Parks, Recreation and Community Sen/ices Department (PRCS) maintains parks, medians, and other landscape areas throughout the City. To maintain these areas, PRCS purchases irrigation supplies for park improvements, emergency repairs, landscape beautification projects, and water conservation efforts.

• A contract with Los Angeles County for the receipt of homeless services funding in an amount not to exceed $677,897 for homeless services. shelter programs administered by Friends In Deed as well as emergency shelter, time-limited subsidies, and housing navigation and location programs administered by Union Station Homeless Services. On January 24, 2022, the Council approved amendments to contracts with Friends In Deed and Union Station Homeless Services to add additional funding not to exceed the amount of any Measure H funds allocated to the City by the County and to extend the terms up to five years. 

• A resolution giving notice of applications received for non-exclusive police towing franchise from four firms as set forth in this agenda report; and setting a public hearing for May 13 at 5:30 pm to consider the granting of police towing franchises. In January 1997, the City Council adopted the Police Towing Franchise System, as set forth in Pasadena Municipal Code, Chapter 10.46. This ordinance provides standards and procedures for the granting of non-exclusive franchises for providing vehicle towing, vehicle impounds, street sweeps and vehicle storage services to the Police Department, Transportation Department, and the City. 

• A $189,366 contract with Opengov Citywide E-procurement. The purpose of the RFP was to solicit proposals for a complete “eProcurement System” to include an eProcurement module, and an evaluation module. The use of these two modules is critically supported by our current use of the solicitation development module. The use of the solicitation development module was administered through a separate purchase and has been in place since January 2020. As the deployment and training of all three modules have been fully executed citywide, consolidating the two relationships under one contract will increase the overall efficiency and management of these procurement tools.

• A contract with the Shower of Hope to operate a safe operating parking program. Safe parking programs are designed to provide a safe place for people sheltering in their vehicles to park without risk of a citation. These programs offer on-site services including restrooms, handwashing stations, and case management services. Safe parking programs provide a stabilizing foundation upon which homeless and other social services can facilitate movement toward permanent housing. The needs of individuals sheltering in their vehicles are typically different from chronically homeless individuals living outdoors. By maintaining access to vehicular shelter, individuals participating in safe parking programs may maintain work and community ties not afforded to individuals living on the street. Without safe parking, people living in their cars risk citations, towing, or impoundment fees that increase instability and threaten those ties. A 2019 National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty study found that 30 to 50% of people experiencing homelessness in West Coast cities lived in their cars. In Pasadena, likely due to the overnight parking ban, vehicular living is not as widespread. The 2023 Pasadena Point-in-Time Homeless Count found 27 individuals (5% of all people experiencing homelessness) to be residing in their cars, which may indicate that those sheltering in their vehicles are displaced from their home city, at least during overnight hours. Anecdotally, this type of displacement is corroborated by Pasadena-based street outreach workers. The recently adopted Pasadena Continuum of Care Homelessness Plan recommends “increas[ing] the number of safe parking program sites” in support of Strategy 14: Strengthen and Increase Access to Essential Services within the Crisis Response Action Area. The plan states, “people living in their cars often lack access to safe and secure places to park, which can create safety concerns, including the risk of crime and harassment” and points to the stabilizing effect that safe parking programs have for people experiencing homelessness. On June 12, 2023, Council approved zoning code amendments to allow safe parking as an accessory use at certain sites occupied by colleges, transit stations, and religious facilities. Sixty-nine of the 74 identified sites belong to religious institutions. Any proposed safe parking program must go through an MCUP process. Ordinance 7414, which codified these amendments, was signed on September 11 and went into effect 30 days later.