I got this comment from reader Amelinda Beas in response to an earlier post about the National Archives in Perris:

Are you serious? How Could you have posted this today instead of the city
council meeting of baldwin Park Last night? What Kind of so called
journalist are you?...This is supposed to be about city hall and what geos
on in these small city governments. For Instance Baldwin Park is facing
Major economic blow if the redevelopment happenes. This is a story about
corruption and your taking pictures of leather face's lair???

Unfortunately, when you spend an entire day out of the office researching another story, it sometimes takes a whole other day get caught up. That being said, my apologies Amelinda. And now, back by popular demand, here’s a BP Council round-up from Wednesday’s meeting:

The city unanimously approved a five-year tow contract extension - outlining upped franchise fees - with Baldwin-Park based Royal Coaches. You might remember a story I did a few weeks ago about the proposed extension. Officials with competitor Jan’s Towing complained the city was “circumventing the bidding process” by approving an extension with Royal Coaches mid-contract. The city claimed everything was perfectly legal.

During public communications Wednesday, an attorney for Jan’s Towing called the city out for being inconsistent with public policy.
On the flip side, Royal Coaches brought out the big guns - er, several supporters to speak on their behalf. But I don’t think they needed to...the council breezed through the item on its consent calendar.

On another note....the council took a beating during public comments from residents mostly upset about the proposed downtown development.
Business owner Gregg Tuttle was at it again, complaining that nothing productive is coming out of mandated public forums held in connection with the development proposal. “The meetings are to interact with the public, not piss ‘em off,” he said.

And if that wasn’t enough, a woman identifying herself as Amelinda Beas (I think likely the same woman from above) accused the council of being corrupt. She said she was tired of Councilman Anthony Bejarano’s “arrogance,” she wanted Councilwoman Monica Garcia to “stop taking contributions,” and she called for Councilwoman Marlen Garcia to “stop looking for photo ops.”

Do I sense tension in the room? Yikes.