Parlier council directs rewrite of rental agreements, sets new minimum security rules and denies $450 refund

Parlier City Council on Feb. 1 directed staff to correct inconsistent language in the city’s facility-rental and funeral-reception applications, set minimum private-security staffing levels and streamline attachments that have been added to the application over time.

The action followed a lengthy public discussion about a borrower’s claim that she had been forced to hire an on‑list security contractor and later charged a premium. Council heard from John Piero, a retired Parlier police officer who now runs a local security company, who told the council his equipment and personnel can deter crime and offered to demo systems and provide data. “We just have a few additional bells and whistles on ours,” Piero said, describing a mobile camera and license‑plate/face-capture system used in other cities.

City attorney Neil told the council staff could not find a prior resolution or policy that established the higher security numbers in the current application and recommended correcting the contracts so they were internally consistent. Neil also warned that liability can attach to both the security company and the city as property owner and urged council to set clear minimums and insurance requirements.

After debate, council members coalesced around a staffing matrix staff will codify in rewritten forms: senior center — one guard for nonalcoholic events, two guards when alcohol is served; community center — two guards for nonalcoholic events, four guards when alcohol is served. Separate language governing funeral receptions will also be fixed: no security required for funeral receptions without alcohol, and a minimum of two security officers when alcohol is present. Councilmembers emphasized that event hosts may hire any qualified security provider rather than being forced to use a single vendor named in attachments.

Council also addressed a $450 reimbursement request from an event host who said a city‑manager instruction led to use of an on‑list vendor. Council held sequential roll-call votes on full and partial reimbursement and ultimately approved a motion denying the reimbursement.

Neil said staff will revise and simplify the rental application and remove redundant attachments so the single signed application clearly lists requirements and the event host understands insurance, security and bartender confirmation obligations. He said he will return the corrected documents to council for final approval.

The council’s directive ends the immediate debate over the existing application wording and sets staff to produce a streamlined, consistent application and attachments for future council review.