Baldwin Park Evaluates SGVCOG Membership

The Baldwin Park City Council will review on Wednesday the benefits, costs and even options to cancel the city's memberships with external organizations, including its current affiliation with the troubled San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG).

The regional agency, which includes 31 cities in the San Gabriel Valley, is currently under scrutiny by many of those cities since its , after allegedly obtaining benefits for his private company.

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Many cities, like San Dimas at first and now Baldwin Park, have analyzed their possible separation from COG. in July.

According to the municipal agenda for Wednesday evening's meeting, the Administration is asking the City Council to evaluate COG's situation for a few months, and if after that period the Council is not satisfied with the direction of the agency, to then withdraw its membership.

There is also a request for authorization to send a letter to COG's board, asking for it to "resolve matters related to its executive director and its future structuring," as expediently as possible.

The report (attached to this story as a PDF file) shows that the city is currently paying $27,699 per year to the agency. Benefits and procedures to cancel membership are also described. The expiration date for the current membership is not specified.

Patch attempted to contact Marlen García, City Council member and Baldwin Park's representative with COG, to obtain more details, but did not get an answer.

The City is also reviewing the benefits of membership with other agencies such as the League of California Cities, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and the Independent City Association (ICA).

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