At this week’s San Fernando City Council meeting, councilmembers discussed minimizing or dropping various community events to save money in the next fiscal year, and voted to formally adopt a new city budget for 2026-2027.
Councilmembers Patty Lopez and Mary Mendoza and Vice Mayor Victoria Garcia voted in favor of the budget resolution for the city totaling $58.4 million, which includes over $30 million in governmental funds, $17.8 million in proprietary funds and $10.5 million in special funds.
During Monday’s meeting, councilmembers explored city events at length, including those that have been routinely observed in recent years: Fourth of July, the city’s birthday, Movies at the Park, Senior Fest, Spring Jamboree, Summer Concerts, the tree-lighting event, the Pride Flag Ceremony, Día de los Muertos, Veterans Day, Memorial Day and the San Fernando Valley Mile.
To help curtail costs, the council opted to pause the San Fernando Valley Mile, which costs about $80,000, and discussed changing the Pride Flag Ceremony to a weekday to avoid overtime costs.
They also discussed reviving El Grito, which celebrates Mexican Independence Day, and adding new events, including Welcome Home Veterans Day, Veterans Monthly Meetings and a first-ever Holiday Parade, being spearheaded by Lopez with the support of the nonprofit Emprende.
Lopez said she has already spoken with several local business owners who are interested in making contributions to help fund the parade, which is expected to cost $37,000. In addition, she will utilize her community investment fund – which other councilmembers offered to do as well – and get a loan from the general fund for the balance if they don’t reach the fundraising goal.
Lopez suggested other councilmembers seek co-sponsors or fundraise for other events as well, in particular for celebrations such as El Grito and Día de los Muertos, which she said are “not traditional [holidays] in the United States of America. We have to keep our [U.S.] holidays first.”
Although El Grito is a Mexican national holiday, observed on Sept. 16, the city of Los Angeles has hosted El Grito celebrations for more than 80 years. And Día de los Muertos observations have been growing in popularity across the U.S. since the 1970s, especially since the 2010s.
“Since I’m the only councilmember that has to pay back [funds] for an event for the [Holiday] Parade, I believe that every single councilmember should be asked to sponsor one of their events that they are rallying to happen in the city,” Lopez said.
Lopez was also critical of some councilmembers expressing concern about the original idea to borrow from the Area B (San Fernando Mall district) fund instead of the general fund to help finance the parade if fundraising fell short of the full amount needed for the holiday event.
“You didn’t even consult with Area B [merchants] when you spent $200,000 [for holiday lights installed on the mall] last year,” said Lopez, calling it a double standard.
“Some of the members are sitting here for maybe the second term and not bringing any funding for our city,” she said. “I’m willing to raise the money [for the parade], and I don’t have a doubt that I can raise the money, but I would like to see the same for El Grito and Día de los Muertos.
“Let’s work together [to] bring the money to the city,” added Lopez.
About Día de los Muertos and El Grito, Mendoza said she feels that cultural events are important for the City of San Fernando because “we’re a predominantly Latino community.” Whether they celebrate El Grito, Día de los Muertos or both, they can hold simplified versions of past events, she said.
“I know that our families really like coming out for Día de los Muertos and putting up their altars,” she said, adding they could open up the park for families to set up their altars and have one or two staff members present monitoring. “We don’t have to have vendors … [or] activities.”
Monday’s council meeting was the final one for outgoing San Fernando Mayor Joel Fajardo, who didn’t run for reelection, and it was the last meeting before the July 6 installation of the new councilmember, Sean M. Rivas, who was elected on June 2.