[00:01] Speaker 1: At this time, we will call to order the Housing Commissioner meeting on September the ninth, 2026 at 5 p.m.
[00:07] Speaker 2: Can you please take roll call?
[00:09] Speaker 3: Absolutely. Commissioner Christofferson.
[00:11] Speaker 4: Here.
[00:12] Speaker 3: Commissioner Lewis.
[00:14] Speaker 5: Here.
[00:15] Speaker 3: Commissioner Pacheco.
[00:16] Speaker 2: Present.
[00:17] Speaker 3: Commissioner Paulson.
[00:18] Speaker 6: Present.
[00:19] Speaker 3: And Chair Gaeta Mejia.
[00:21] Speaker 1: Present.
[00:21] Speaker 7: Wonderful.
[00:24] Speaker 1: Let's please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
[00:32] Speaker 6: Ready?
[00:33] Speaker 1: Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Do we have any public comment on a matter not on the agenda?
[00:56] Speaker 3: There are no public comments.
[00:57] Speaker 1: Okay, so can I have one of the commissioners confirm the agenda?
[01:07] Speaker 3: And just for the record, there's no, no changes by staff.
[01:10] Speaker 7: Okay.
[01:12] Speaker 3: And any changes by the commission?
[01:15] Speaker 7: No. Okay, perfect. We can move on.
[01:17] Speaker 1: Okay. So we have announcements, presentations, and written communication. None?
[01:22] Speaker 3: Correct, not today.
[01:23] Speaker 1: And consent of calendar, receive and file meeting minutes date June 10th, 2026. I call for a motion.
[01:33] Speaker 5: I move to, to approve the minutes of 10— or January—
[01:40] Speaker 1: June 10th.
[01:41] Speaker 5: June 10th, sorry, 2026.
[01:48] Speaker 7: Second.
[01:48] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[01:49] Speaker 3: Okay, wonderful. We have a motion and a second. We have a roll call vote. Commissioner Christopherson?
[01:55] Speaker 7: Yes. Perfect.
[01:56] Speaker 3: Commissioner Lewis?
[01:58] Speaker 5: Aye.
[01:59] Speaker 3: Commissioner Pacheco?
[02:00] Speaker 4: Aye.
[02:00] Speaker 3: Commissioner Paulton?
[02:01] Speaker 8: Aye.
[02:02] Speaker 3: And Commissioner— I'm sorry, and Chair Gaeta Mejia?
[02:04] Speaker 8: Aye.
[02:05] Speaker 3: Awesome. Motion passes unanimously.
[02:06] Speaker 1: Okay, so we have one business item. Yes, for today it is appoint members of the Housing Commission to serve as chairperson and vice chairperson for fiscal year of 2026-2027.
[02:23] Speaker 9: And so I think you guys kind of know the drill here, but there's no one new here.
[02:26] Speaker 3: But essentially, the presiding officer, the, um, the chairperson is the presiding officer at all the meetings. They're the primary responsible person for the conduct of the meetings. And they're also responsible for maintenance and order and decorum at all times. So pretty straightforward. So if anybody would like to nominate somebody or yourself for chair, we'll start off with chairperson first, and then we'll go to vice chair.
[02:50] Speaker 1: I nominate Christopherson.
[03:08] Speaker 7: Okay.
[03:11] Speaker 3: Would you care to accept nomination for chair?
[03:13] Speaker 6: I accept the nomination.
[03:15] Speaker 3: Wonderful.
[03:15] Speaker 7: Okay.
[03:17] Speaker 3: In that case, if anyone would like to make a motion.
[03:25] Speaker 2: I accept. You yeah, I do agree.
[03:28] Speaker 3: Okay, you're making a motion?
[03:30] Speaker 7: Yes.
[03:30] Speaker 3: Okay, and can we get a second?
[03:33] Speaker 5: James Lewis seconds.
[03:36] Speaker 7: Perfect.
[03:41] Speaker 3: Okay, so we have, excuse me, a motion by Commissioner Pacheco and seconded by Commissioner Lewis to appoint Commissioner Christopherson to be chair for— excuse me, to serve as chair to the commission. for fiscal year 2026-2027. And I can do a quick roll call vote. Commissioner Christopherson?
[04:00] Speaker 6: Um, yes.
[04:01] Speaker 3: Commissioner Lewis?
[04:02] Speaker 5: Aye.
[04:03] Speaker 3: Commissioner Pacheco?
[04:04] Speaker 5: Aye.
[04:05] Speaker 9: Commissioner Paulton?
[04:06] Speaker 2: Aye.
[04:06] Speaker 3: And current Chair, uh, McKayetta Mejia?
[04:09] Speaker 8: Aye.
[04:09] Speaker 3: Okay, motion passes unanimously. And how about for Vice Chair? Any nominations? Discussion?
[04:21] Speaker 5: I nominate Director Paulton.
[04:26] Speaker 10: I accept.
[04:29] Speaker 5: I'm sorry about the chair—
[04:33] Speaker 7: Okay.
[04:34] Speaker 5: Commissioner.
[04:35] Speaker 7: All right.
[04:37] Speaker 3: So can we get a motion and a second for the vice chair?
[04:40] Speaker 2: I agree.
[04:43] Speaker 7: Okay.
[04:45] Speaker 6: I second.
[04:46] Speaker 7: Perfect.
[04:50] Speaker 3: We have a motion by Commissioner Pacheco and a second by Commissioner Christopherson to— sorry, to appoint Commissioner Pacheco to Housing Commission as serving as vice chairperson for fiscal year 2026-2027. And I will do the roll call vote. Commissioner Christopherson?
[05:07] Speaker 6: Aye.
[05:08] Speaker 3: Commissioner Lewis?
[05:09] Speaker 5: Aye.
[05:10] Speaker 3: Commissioner Pacheco?
[05:11] Speaker 5: Aye.
[05:12] Speaker 3: Commissioner, uh, Balton?
[05:13] Speaker 5: Aye.
[05:13] Speaker 3: And Chair Gaia Mejia?
[05:15] Speaker 7: Aye. Okay, wonderful.
[05:17] Speaker 3: Motion passes unanimously.
[05:18] Speaker 1: Now we go to department reports. The—
[05:24] Speaker 3: sorry, and I just want to say congratulations and thank you.
[05:27] Speaker 1: Thank you. So we have the first one is the department reports, which is the Doom Ponds Mobile Home Estates property management update.
[05:35] Speaker 3: Correct.
[05:37] Speaker 6: We Okay. All righty.
[05:50] Speaker 3: Good evening again. I am Lori McKinley. I'm a management specialist in the city manager's office, and I'm going to present, um, the update for our property management, um, at Doom Palms Mobile Home Estates. So we will go Thank you. So I am pleased to bring you an exciting update on the first 60 days of Frontline Facility Solutions management at Doom Palms Mobile Home Estates.
[06:16] Speaker 9: Their priority from day one has been to establish a visible onsite presence, bringing property operations into an organized and accountable system, address immediate health and safety concerns, and begin rebuilding trust with the residents. So first, I would like to introduce— and she was going to be here, she's not here yet, but she might show up in a little bit— is Joanna Ibarra, who is the property manager. She brings more than 20 years of multifamily and regulated housing management experience. And secondly is maintenance technician Jason Flores, and he brings more than 10 years of hands-on expertise in electric, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and general construction. So together, they provide residents with a consistent, accessible point of contact for both management and maintenance needs. On the administrative side, we have this? Yes, perfect. On the administrative side, Frontline completed the Yardi onboarding process. So resident lease files, archives, ledgers, and monthly rent charges have been uploaded into individual resident records. So this means they've moved away from paper-based tracking and now have a centralized system for resident files, financial records, Frontline also introduced the Rent Cafe resident portal. So as of the first 60 days, 30 of 82 residents have registered. Residents can view the portal to view changes, make online rent payments, and submit maintenance requests directly to the onsite team. They have already seen online rent payments increase from 2 in July to 8 in August, and they continue to provide onsite assistance to residents who may need help with getting registered.
[07:56] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[08:00] Speaker 9: Maintenance and emergency responsiveness has been another major focus. Work orders can now be submitted through the portal, by phone, or in person, and every request is logged and closed out in their Yardi system. The team completed 48 self-generated maintenance requests in June and 52 in July. These included cleanup of dumpster areas and vacant lots, fence repairs, bulky item removal, sign replacement, pothole filling, and wasp and bee removal. So one example of the new response framework occurred on July 20th when a sewer backup affected a resident's yard.
[08:36] Speaker 3: Yeah, this is here.
[08:37] Speaker 1: Sorry.
[08:37] Speaker 9: The property manager arrived within an hour. A plumber cleared the line that evening, and a certified remediation crew completed cleanup and sanitization before the next morning. The resident had restored service promptly, and the management followed up the next day to confirm that the issue was fully resolved. This response reflects the approach Frontline is applying throughout the property. Act quickly, document thoroughly, and keep the city informed.
[09:01] Speaker 3: So this was just kind of a quick little timeline and some not great photos, but to show that everything was, was done well.
[09:09] Speaker 9: All right, and moving on. Frontline has also begun re-establishing standards across the community. So lot inspections and notices are being documented.
[09:20] Speaker 3: Abandoned and non-operational vehicles are being addressed according to the required notice process.
[09:25] Speaker 9: And updated rules and regulations are in development to replace the outdated 1997-era rules. Um, pet leash, home site upkeep, and parking reminders have been distributed with generally positive, um, resident feedback. Uh, parking improvements are already producing results. So non-operational vehicles in guest parking have been tagged and removed, creating more available guest spaces.
[09:49] Speaker 3: The next phase includes resident vehicle registration visitor permits, numbered and restriped spaces, and continued enforcement of fire lane restrictions.
[10:00] Speaker 9: So infrastructure and vendor coordination have also moved forward. Utility accounts were transferred by the July 1st deadline. Qualified local vendors were retained for plumbing, electrical, pest control, security, emergency response, and an overnight security patrol is now in place. Illegal dumping Um, has decreased significantly, and the large 40-yard trash bin has been removed.
[10:24] Speaker 3: So this is a couple more pictures of the stuff that was cleaned up before and after there.
[10:29] Speaker 9: They've also made improvements to the rec room and office, including installation of a mini-split HVAC system.
[10:35] Speaker 3: And so the rec room can now serve as a resident gathering space and cooling center when needed. Again, a little before and after in there.
[10:41] Speaker 9: And then finally, resident engagement has been especially encouraging. The inaugural meet and greet brought more than 150 residents together with Frontline ownership and the onsite team. They're building on that momentum through bilingual monthly newsletters, regular open office hours, and resident town halls.
[11:01] Speaker 3: And so these are just some of the pictures and everything from the event, and we can send you guys all the full presentation after if you wanna take another look or anything. So just a couple more here. There she is. So, okay.
[11:22] Speaker 2: You're good.
[11:24] Speaker 9: We'll— So looking ahead, the next 90 days are going to focus on the vacant pad program, completion of parking improvements, new directory and lot number signage, and a one-time landscape cleanup effort for overgrown occupied lots. So in short, the foundation is now in place. The office is open. Records are organized. Maintenance is being tracked. Standards are being enforced and residents know who to contact. The goal remains straightforward: to make Doom Palms a safer, cleaner, more responsive, and more welcoming place to call home. So thank you very much. And we do have Joanna Ambaro here who rushed over from, from on-site to answer any questions you guys may have for, for this.
[12:01] Speaker 7: And I think, yeah, that's it.
[12:09] Speaker 9: Does anyone have any questions or comments or—
[12:11] Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that everything's, um, was presented and it's all like they're on things. How are we going to get the other residents to register? I saw there was only 30 out of the 82.
[12:36] Speaker 4: Oh, this one here?
[12:36] Speaker 7: Yeah.
[12:37] Speaker 9: Yes.
[12:37] Speaker 8: There? Yeah.
[12:39] Speaker 7: Okay.
[12:41] Speaker 4: At the time of this report, that was the amount of residents that were registered. Since then, we've had many more register. As they come in, they're kind of noticing the transition, and they're kind of getting a little bit more trustworthy and wanting to actually register and understand that process. Online, they're a little bit afraid because they didn't know how it worked. So I sat down, you know, walked him through it, showed him how to do it. So then I told him, look, this is how it is. We got it done now.
[13:10] Speaker 10: So if you still have questions later, you're not sure next month when you're ready to pay your rent, you can come in and I'll still help you understand it, you know, as much as you need to. So it's encouraging them. And then the talk gets around the community. Everyone knows everybody, each other there. So the talk gets around the community and then, you know, one tells the other and they say, oh yeah, that's a good idea, let's go. So then they both come into the office together. So It's kind of getting word of mouth like that. So we have much more registered now than then, but it's still not a large amount.
[13:40] Speaker 1: And you're there all the time, right?
[13:42] Speaker 4: I'm sorry?
[13:42] Speaker 1: You're there all the time?
[13:43] Speaker 4: Yeah, Monday through Friday.
[13:44] Speaker 9: That's good.
[13:45] Speaker 1: That's something that they needed also.
[13:47] Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot of people are happy about that. They're like, oh, it's so nice to have somebody here we can come in and actually talk to. You know, we can come in and sit down. And even if I'm not there, they still have the ability to contact us through the phone. They can call us, text us, whatever they may need. And I tell them, you know, if you have a question late at night and you don't want to forget the next day, you can send a text and we'll get to it the next day. So they kind of like that too.
[14:08] Speaker 8: Okay.
[14:10] Speaker 1: And I saw in the picture, uh, Lori, that you put up, some were in pink. That means those are vacant lots? That's at the beginning.
[14:18] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[14:19] Speaker 9: No, no, you're fine. Let me get there.
[14:20] Speaker 1: It had a V next to it. So like 18V, 19V. Are those vacant ones or—
[14:26] Speaker 6: Yep.
[14:27] Speaker 3: And those are the ones that they're going to be working on cleaning up?
[14:29] Speaker 1: Yeah, cleaning up and getting them ready for families or—
[14:34] Speaker 9: No, not right now.
[14:36] Speaker 3: Right now we're just kind of trying to reevaluate everything in the park. So at this time, we're just going to clean them up, make sure they look, they look presentable. There's not weeds coming out. We're capping up all the electric, that kind of thing, just to make sure it's a safe area.
[14:47] Speaker 6: Okay. So I did watch the— when the meeting— when the gentlemen were here, and it seemed like there was vermin was a kind of a topic, like animals. Is that still, or has that been addressed, or can you speak to that?
[15:07] Speaker 4: Yes, we did hire a pest control company who came in and placed new bait stations and rodent stations. They're taking an aggressive approach, and they're continuing to monitor it every— I think it's every 2 weeks they come and they check to see the activity. And then from there, depending on the activity, we're going to determine whether it needs to continue biweekly or if it can be a monthly service from there, and also place the bait stations, uh, in the areas depending on the activity in that area. So that is something that we have ongoing and that we're working on. And including the bait station, we also have this, uh, pest control company that is also fumigating around the community and all the exterior areas because there were concerns about ants and water bugs.
[15:57] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[15:59] Speaker 1: Any other questions, Commissioners?
[16:02] Speaker 2: Um, yes, I do. Um, in regarding to those that didn't register, how many more register after that? Do you know?
[16:09] Speaker 4: I don't know off the top of my head.
[16:10] Speaker 3: I couldn't—
[16:12] Speaker 2: yeah. Um, have you considered maybe like doing a meeting with all of them and so you could teach them how to register. This way it will be better that it's going to come out of you instead of like word of mouth. Because it would be best if you held a meeting giving them the right information.
[16:31] Speaker 4: We have a monthly meeting coming up this next week on the 17th. So I can have additional information for them. We can discuss that too as a topic on our agenda. I create an agenda every month for these meetings, so I can add that definitely to our agenda and we can discuss that during the meeting with them. And then we can also hold a separate meeting regarding that solely if that's even better for them, you know, so it gives them a little bit more time to stay on that subject and talk about it and learn, you know. So yeah, it's something definitely that we can put to work.
[17:03] Speaker 8: Thank you.
[17:03] Speaker 5: If having experience with an HOA with a platform application to do those things? There's— I know there's people who are not comfortable with an app. Are there still going to be analog ways to Do what they have to do, call in or email or bring it, bring the check, or what, what is the process? Is there anything other than the online platform?
[17:51] Speaker 4: Yes, residents can still continue to bring in a money order, check, cashier's check. They can bring it to the office during the office hours that we're there. We also installed a drop box at the front of the office. It's the standalone drop box on a pedestal at the front door underneath the view of the cameras that we installed. So they can drop their rent in that box even after— after or after business hours or during the weekend. So that's still available to them too. Because a lot of them are old-fashioned. They don't want to change over. And it's completely understandable.
[18:25] Speaker 7: One—
[18:26] Speaker 5: another question. Excuse me. Another question was, have you given any thoughts to like having a senior group team that gets together and discusses and then disseminates that information? Just a thought.
[18:51] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a good thought to put in play. I don't think it's something that we've looked into yet, but it's definitely something that we can add to our list. of things to do and see if we can get one of those groups going. I think that it would be beneficial to have a group of seniors because a lot of times the seniors are the ones who kind of, you know, stay alone and they don't come forward or they don't wanna come to other meetings where there's not seniors. I think they feel more comfortable when there's more seniors, like a group, like you say. So I think that's a good idea and something that we can put into play.
[19:22] Speaker 7: Thank you.
[19:25] Speaker 5: Thank you.
[19:26] Speaker 7: You're welcome.
[19:30] Speaker 8: Any other questions?
[19:32] Speaker 7: No?
[19:33] Speaker 1: Thank you.
[19:33] Speaker 7: You're welcome.
[19:36] Speaker 5: Thank you. I have a question for the management, but what's the general long-term general plan for this park is to keep it as a mobile park, or—
[19:55] Speaker 3: Yeah, for the time being, yes. We're actually— we're working on a master plan with our public works team to try and come up with kind of a long-term vision.
[20:05] Speaker 9: So everything is in the works, but nothing's decided at this time.
[20:08] Speaker 3: But, but we're working on it. And of course, as soon as we get something, it'll be presented to you guys as well.
[20:17] Speaker 1: So now we go to the number 2, physical year 2026-27 city events lineup.
[20:23] Speaker 3: Yes, and so let me get to— here we go. Um, so we just wanted to present to, uh, the commission— you guys have a list of all the dates here, and we can send these to you as well. Um, but just a reminder that upcoming this Friday, we do have the, um, the September 11th Memorial here, um, at City Hall. Um, there's a the 2nd annual La Quinta Fall Fest at the La Quinta Park on October 16th, which is great. It was a really big success last year with families and people. It's all free. It's a great event. So if you guys are able to make it there, and then of course, you know, the rest of the ones for the year are listed on here. So we just— if any of you can make it to some or all of these, that would be wonderful. We'd just like to see you.
[21:05] Speaker 1: Thank you. So now we're going to go to commissioners' items. Do we have anything you want to talk about, commissioners?
[21:17] Speaker 7: No?
[21:18] Speaker 1: I have one thing, Laurie. And I want to know if there's any updates on the Brown Act, or is there any changes, everything's the same, or what's going on with the Brown Act?
[21:28] Speaker 9: At this time, everything is—
[21:30] Speaker 6: well, that—
[21:31] Speaker 9: it's all pretty much the same.
[21:34] Speaker 3: And we did— I have an update for you, or just a reminder.
[21:38] Speaker 9: that we can hand out.
[21:39] Speaker 3: It'll be a handout after the meeting. It's just from the stuff that we covered last year.
[21:43] Speaker 8: Um, um, but yeah, no, no additional changes. There were a few changes that were required for council, such as posting the agenda in Spanish and having additional items available in Spanish, but those rules do not apply to the commission.
[22:03] Speaker 1: Another question?
[22:05] Speaker 7: No?
[22:06] Speaker 1: I guess—
[22:07] Speaker 5: Yes. Is there a reminder to us to fill out the— to submit the 700 form?
[22:17] Speaker 3: That'll be in the beginning of the year. So we'll probably be notified in January and they're due April.
[22:23] Speaker 5: Thank you.
[22:29] Speaker 1: Okay, and we want to adjourn our meeting. It is 5:22.
[22:35] Speaker 3: We need a motion and a second, please.
[22:37] Speaker 1: Motion to adjourn our meeting.
[22:40] Speaker 2: I will motion to adjourn the meeting.
[22:43] Speaker 7: I second.
[22:46] Speaker 9: And quick roll call.
[22:47] Speaker 3: Commissioner Christopherson?
[22:49] Speaker 6: Aye.
[22:50] Speaker 3: Lewis?
[22:51] Speaker 5: Aye.
[22:51] Speaker 3: Pacheco?
[22:52] Speaker 4: Aye.
[22:52] Speaker 3: Fulton?
[22:53] Speaker 2: Aye.
[22:54] Speaker 3: And Chair Gay Adamia?
[22:55] Speaker 8: Aye.
[22:56] Speaker 3: Thank you very much.
[22:57] Speaker 9: We are adjourned at 5:23.
[22:58] Speaker 7: Thank you.