Residents press Adelanto council on code enforcement, IT contracts and sheriff overtime during public comment

During public comment at the April 28 meeting, residents raised several recurring service and contract concerns. Diana Esmeralda (speaker 6) told the council she had launched iloveadelanto.com to distribute resident updates and urged the return of in‑person meetings to make participation easier for seniors and residents without internet access. She called for an oversight budget committee and criticized perceived cuts to animal control and the apparent absence of animal control services.

Esmeralda also questioned recurring payments to a contractor she called LanWAN Enterprises, stating: “LanWAN Enterprises takes up $20,000 a month of our budget,” and urged more transparency about the city’s website and IT spending. She additionally raised an allegation about “pay to play” investigations by the state involving Mayor Gabriel Reyes; that allegation was not addressed or verified during the meeting.

Later in the meeting Councilwoman Jeanette (speaker 2) pulled several consent items for discussion and asked about a $6,272 invoice to Cornerstone Garage for transmission repair on the animal control truck; staff said the repair returned the truck to service and that a fully equipped replacement would likely cost in the $80,000–$100,000 range. Jeanette also queried large sheriff overtime totals (transcribed as $94,247.65 for one invoicing period); finance staff (Derek, speaker 11) said some overtime charges reflect costs from large protests (including GEO protests) and emergency responses and that special events normally contract and pay for sheriff overtime separately.

The council and staff did not take direct disciplinary or investigatory action at the meeting on the contract or investigation claims; public commenters asked for more resident access and oversight and for staff to follow up on service‑delivery questions.