Bell Gardens City Council recesses into closed session after no public comments

The Bell Gardens City Council recessed into a special closed session at about 5:11 p.m. Tuesday, the city attorney announced, after the city clerk said no members of the public had signed up to speak on items listed for the closed-session agenda.

The council called the meeting to order at 5:09 p.m., and the mayor noted that members of the public could view and listen to the meeting live on the city website. During roll call, officials recorded the presence of Council member Barca, Council Travis and Council Sanchez, along with Mayor De Rosa.

The city clerk told the council, “There isn't anyone who submitted any public comment cards um and written comments and no one is participating virtually at the moment,” removing the need for an extended public-comment period on the posted closed-session items. Following that announcement, the city attorney said the council would recess to a special closed session to discuss the items posted on the agenda and noted the time as 5:11 p.m.

Council members recessed to the closed session with a plan to reconvene in open session at 6 p.m. or soon after; the council said the city attorney would report out any required public information when it returned. No votes or other formal actions were recorded in the open session portion of the agenda during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript.