City Council - Regular Meeting

application that's for so four are here currently. I I believe I can confirm I've seen three but I I'm not sure if the fourth Okay. has walked in. Okay. Should we do that first and then make our determination? Sure.

Okay. We currently have three members present in the close session room. Okay. Um and the as far as the medical reason, I am okay personally with um use if that's a if that's a person who's been on before. Absolutely. I can uh disclose that it is um Anita Roberts. Okay. had submit the request.

Um I I don't know if this is like an up for counsel type of thing. If it since she has been on, I would be and has a medical emergency. I would be okay with using her um application that we have and then our understanding of her uh work for the past however many years it's been and I think it's just general counsel consensus for that. So do we have consensus on that? I do as long as um we've done the same in the past. Have we done the same in the past? I don't think we've ever had a medical emergency. I have not. Yeah, but I'm okay with it. I'm good with it. So,

I want to ask a clarifying question. Are we saying we're going to consider her application, not give a separate opportunity to discuss, but just consider her application and her prior work on on it to determine whether or not we move her forward. And then for the fourth person, if they do not appear, what are we if they not if they're not calling for a medical emergency, then they're just not interested in moving forward. Is that correct? Typically, what we do if someone doesn't show up, uh, unless of course, again, the medical emergency is new, but if they don't show up, then we are assuming that they're not interested.

Um, I would if that person were to reach out and say they had a medical emergency, I would reconsider that. But typically, that's the that's what process we followed in the past. Okay, thank you for clarifying. I have no problem with that. Okay. And then I have one cl clarifying question. Since um Miss Roberts is not here, would she have to do the interview again or would we just consider her application? From what I'm understanding is that the council is in agreement that they would consider her application and resume that she included with her application in lie of an interview this evening. So appointments could be considered tonight. Okay.

And I I recommend that because she's been on and so we we have all I believe been able to um understand, you know, her experience and work and all of that. Okay. Which would be part of the interview for her. Um again though, that we have not heard any medical emergency from the other candidate.

That's correct. And I can provide because I did do a random draw for the order of interviews. If that plays into your decision at all and at the time that that person is called then you determination. Okay. So, moving forward this evening, um, in our the procedures for the interview process, it did call out that each applicant has three minutes per question. So, I can count that with the clock if you'd like so that we can keep everybody with an even amount of time to participate.

I think that's um you could they can see the clock up in the screen you're saying. Okay. I I think that's fair. Although there are um there are times where council may decide to ask further questions or for additional details, but we will keep that consistent. Excellent. So then at this time I will call the first applicant out. Um they can introduce themselves briefly and then in whichever order you'd like to uh ask the questions, you can proceed with that as you'd like. Does anyone have a preference about order? yours is on here first. Do you want to go first? Okay.

We will um follow the order that's on the paper. Excellent. And then just so that there's understanding or clarification of post process following the interviews, uh you would ask for uh everyone's top three in order of preference. And I'll have that on the displayed on the screen so that it's it's visible for you to see and then consider when you're making your recommendations for appointment. Okay. Thank you. Awesome.

The first person to interview is Jamie Tobin. We'll bring him out. Amanda, can you clarify that all candidates have been um the process has been shared with them so they have a full understanding of how it's going to work? As far as the interview process, yes. Um I I didn't debrief anyone in the selection process aside from there is a selection process and that will be taken this evening if the council chooses.

Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. Bear with us just a moment. We want to make sure that doesn't keep happening.

Can you please check the microphone? Test test. better. Thank you. Welcome, Mr. Tobin. Uh we are going to go down a list of questions and take some notes and you are welcome once you're done with your interview to sit in the audience if you'd like to watch the others. Um we had a a random choice of who goes first and you picked the lucky number. All right. So, we will be um as I said just going through each one of us. Uh Vice Mayor Pearson will be asking remotely and all of our notes will um help us to form our decisions. Thank you very much for your application and for coming this evening. All right. Thank you, Mayor. We'll start with Council Member Mendoza. Hello. How are you? Good. How are you?

Good. Thank you. So, my question is um for the last two-year period, can you share two to three projects that transpired over that time that you liked and the why? And the more important thing is two to three projects that transpired and you didn't like and why.

Um that's a good one to start out with. Uh, I would say for the projects, I I'm going to be honest. I I haven't followed everything too closely in the last couple years. Have a few things going on with the family. Um, but I will say just from the things that that I've seen since uh um since I was in planning commission before uh that I did like were a lot of the the road improvements that that have been done around the town. Um I know that there were some I'm I'm sorry, let me specify. um projects that came to planning commission like road improve road improvements don't come to planning commission so it all be around your work sorry

and council member Mendoza can I ask one request madame mayor is your microphone on because it illuminates you and not the speaker for the public's viewing yeah my microphone is not on but that's a good point we have that directed to uh to have the public see the candidate instead of me this happened another time to interrupt no I don't need to be front and center all the Thank you.

We we can restart and then the matter of order we neglected to inform the applicant that there is a threeinut limit for answering each question from each council member. Okay.

Should we go ahead and start again? All right. So, for projects for uh that have come before the planning commission, I would be guessing on which ones came before the planning commission. I haven't followed in the last few years, so I probably can't answer that fairly. You're welcome. Uh my question is next and it is what connectivity or opposition do you see between housing affordability, environmental equity, SQA compliance and restrictions and housing laws?

Uh can you repeat that one more time? Yep. So, I'm looking to find out what you see connected versus opposing um regarding housing affordability, environmental equity, SQA compliance and restrictions and housing laws.

Um, so as far as affordability, I'll say that that's kind of what landed me in Brentwood was it was more affordable than where I was living in San Jose. So, um I do see as far as that there is some conflicts between uh the affordability of housing here, regulations um and so so I'm blanking a little bit, but I would say that as far as affordability not doing good tonight. The but like I said, that's what landed me out here. Um and since uh I've been out here since 2013 and um prices have gone up a lot. Um the price of my home has gone up a lot. That's good and bad. It makes it harder for other people to to get into houses. I know I have kids that are adults now. it it makes it a lot harder for them to be able to um do their the first time buying um without um any help from the government. Um so that those are things that that I think about it as a as a citizen is how are my family going to be able to get on their own feet and get going in the community whether it's here in Brentwood or anywhere around. I know that um the cost to live in Brentwood is a little bit more than surrounding cities. So that makes it a little bit harder for them to to stay here in Brentwood. Um, and that just like any other family probably makes it hard to to stay here. Um, and a lot of that is for the money that's going into to roads or the infrastructure, things like that. It's nicer to live in Brentwood than some of the surrounding cities. So to me, that that all factors in and plays together.

Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for being here. No problem.

Uh please explain the duties of the planning commission. Uh the duties of the planning commission are to review the um projects that are put before them that are prepared by the um by the city planners um and to make sure that they meet the um that they meet regulatory requirements and that they meet um any of the the economic uh impacts or the uh the environmental impacts. um making sure that if everything meets code and meets all of the requirements, um that you you vote on it fairly, that you don't use uh that you don't use opinions, that uh you go by the rules and make your decisions based off the rules and the laws. And that's my answer. Is it three minutes run or I just guess?

Okay, sorry about that. Um, no problem. Same question I've asked for three years in a row, so let's make it four straight. If a planning commission agenda item is consistent with state law but is against your personal beliefs or wishes, would you vote against your personal beliefs upholding state law and the oath of office? from make sure there's no tricks in here. Can you repeat it? There's not a trick in there at all. Are you going to follow your oath of office and and abide by the state's laws and governing bodies? Yes, I will.

Good afternoon, Mr. Tobin. I'm on mine. The big voice above your head. Um, so planning commission decisions often shape a city for decades. Tell us about a time you had to make a difficult decision that balanced competing community interests and how did you approach it?

This makes it easy when it's up on the screen. Um, so the biggest one that sticks out to me was when I was in planning commission before and we had the uh the Goodwill um one that came up and we had a lot of people uh from the community that that came out to to speak on that one. Um, so that was really hard to to see everybody's hearts out and showing that a lot of them didn't want something that um that was coming to their neighborhood and they all had different reasons and um but on paper we had to judge or do our voting based off of what um what was law. So, with that one, I know that there were some things about traffic uh that came into play and um that I did end up voting no on that one and we were split on the the planning commission, but that that was a tough one for me and I've reflected back on on that a few times and um I see that it's still not here. Um but I would have to go back and look at that more to to know that that was the right decision or not the right decision, but um I have to stand by that now. Um I think the other um is it just planning commission or you want any other examples?

No that I think that was a good example but if you want to expand if you want to talk about another one hey the floor is all yours.

Yeah I don't remember this one coming to us. It was more city council that I just remember around that time was a homeless uh the homeless shelter that uh they were trying to zone and everybody came out on that one to to the city council meetings and I know that made it really hard for city council because so many people were worried that there was going to be a homeless camp that was going to be put in their backyard and nobody wants that in their backyard. So, uh that was a hard one uh to even watch and I felt bad for the city council at that point. Um, I feel like they um that they let everybody talk. They heard everybody out and that I know when I went to that it was it was a few hours long and um like I said, I think they did a really good job. They made the best decision that that they could at the time and um it moved on from there. But yeah, so that was the other one that kind of popped into my head is talking about the other one.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank you, Mr. Tobin. anything you'd like to say in closing?

Uh yeah, just uh real quick. Um so sorry about the the beginning of this um and not quite being uh as prepared as I as I wanted to be, but um I would like a a chance to come back and help out on the planning commission. Um I didn't I'm not sure exactly why I wasn't asked to come back um after I did two years before. Um so I don't know what the reasoning was there. Um, but I do know that since then my life has changed a lot. Uh, my family has grown. They moved out of the house. My my career has grown. I've moved um um I've moved up in each different path that that I've gone gone through. So, I think I've matured a lot more uh since then as far as um just like compliance and regulatory portions of this that would help me to be even a better planning commissioner now than than I think I was back then. Um, that's all.

Thank you very much. You're welcome to stay and watch if you'd like. All right. Thank you, Amanda. I didn't see the timer for any of the questions. So, I'm guessing that means for all of the candidates should have the same lack of clock. The clock is on. I guess it's just not with our technical issues we're having on this screen here, but they can see it on the large clock behind you.

Okay. Got it. All right. Thank you. The next member to interview or candidate, I'm sorry, is Tahitar Aar. We'll bring him in Good evening.

Amen. Thank you very much for joining us this evening and for putting your name in the hat for this. Um we appreciate your time. We're going to go down the line, ask questions. Um we are happy to repeat if it's not clear the first time. You will have three minutes to answer each question and then in the end you can make some closing remarks. Great. So thank you again for coming. We will start with council member Mendoza. Good evening. Thank you for coming out. Um, in respect to planning commission projects, can you please share two or three projects that have transpired over the last two years that you liked and then two or three that you did not like and the reasons why? Personal projects or city?

No. No. When you watch the meetings over the last two years, what projects did you like from plan that you know that went through planning commission or and some that went through that you didn't like and the why? Um, I don't know about the last two years, but I could tell you um the expansion of Loan Tree uh and the expansion of the four several years ago. Um, I love those projects. Anything infrastructure- wise I'm a fan of. Um, other than that, I've had some personal Yeah. kind of projects, but those are the ones that kind of

Okay. Thank you. and I will go next. Thank you. What connectivity or opposition do you see between housing affordability, environmental equity, SQA compliance and restrictions and housing laws?

I think there's always going to be a conflict. Um we have ordinances and laws especially SQA uh the California uh environmental act in 1970 it it basically was to enhance the public's knowledge and how it impact how these projects impact the environment. So I think there's always going to be a conflict because development in itself is going to impact the environment. How we deal with it is is I think the most important thing. Um public policy ordinances that restrict business, they're always going to be in conflict. How we deal with them, how we inform the public, and how we respond to individuals and businesses, I think is paramount. Thank you very much.

Thank you for being here. Please explain the duties of the planning commission.

Good question. I think it's a responsibility but uh more importantly for one you have to kind of weigh between the general plan the um responsibility of making sure that each applicant and their project is heard and third is to comply with the law. So all of those things I think are important to make sure that we stay on track to make sure our our community is better.

I'm sorry you kind of tailed off at the end. What was the end of that? So you have a responsibility or we have a responsibility as um citizens and you have a responsibility as a planning commission to make sure that each project is make first it's heard secondly it complies with all the laws third that the general plan of the city is is adhered to. Okay. Um, if uh if the planning commission agenda item is uh consistent with state law, but it's against your personal beliefs or wishes, would you vote against your personal beliefs upholding state law and your oath of office every time? I think we have to um we have to separate ourselves from the general good. That's how I feel. If it's conflicted if it's conflicting with my own personal views, I have to just step that step aside um and absolutely vote in favor of what the law is.

Good afternoon, sir. Um, the planning commission decisions often shape a city for decades. Can you please tell us about a time where you had to make a difficult decision that balance competing community interest and how did you approach it? I'm sorry. I I had a hard time hearing that. Can I can repeat that. Can you hear me okay now? Yeah.

Yes. Um the job of the planning commission is very difficult and but it it also can shape the way a city looks for decades. Can you tell us about a time you had to make a difficult decision that balanced competing community interest and how you approached it? And it can be any example. I can give you an example from a personal perspective. I applied for a conditional use permit uh in the LA region about 15 years ago. Um, it was in a community where I was applying for a car wash to build a car wash and the existing property was buted up right next to a local neighborhood. Um, at the at the hearing, uh, a few neighbors came and said, "Oh, this is going to cause more noise. This is going to impact our, you know, our living standard. it's going to reduce the uh um the value of our homes because there was a car wash. Um after we ended the session, we actually went out to those neighbors, reached out to them and said, "Okay, what are the real problems?" And it was basically the hours that needed to be adjusted uh between, you know, running in at night or having a 24-hour car wash like they have now and just adjusting the hours. So, it's it's a matter of listening to the community and then maybe conforming.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, if you would like to make any remarks in closing, that would be fine. And when you're done, you're welcome to sit and watch the rest of the interviews or leave. That is up to you.

I think I bring a different perspective. Um, I bring a business perspective. I understand plans, permits. I understand zoning. I understand general plans. I understand some of the dichotomy between those. Um, at the end of the day, I like to serve this community because I love it and I want to see this community grow in in more of a planned view rather than an impulsive way. Um, and I love the opportunity to give back. That was it. Thank you very much. Thanks again for coming.

The next applicant we have is Mark Anderson. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for joining us this evening.

Thank you for having me and uh braving the weather. So, we are going to go down the line. We each have a question for you. You will have three minutes to answer and when you're done with the whole interview, you're welcome to stay and watch the rest of the interviews and discussion or leave at that point. Um, and you're also welcome to at the end make a statement, a final closing statement. So, we will start with council member Mendoza. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for coming out. Um, over the last two years, can you share with us some projects that have gone through the planning commission? two that you um like that have transpired and the why and maybe two or three, you know, two or three and then two or three that you didn't like and the why.

Good question. Um I could probably start with the ones that I didn't like. Okay.

Uh I live in Shadow Lakes, been there 25 years. uh original resident and when the Bridalgate project came our way, obviously my concern is the traffic going through Shadow Lakes onto Adams and Heritage, one way in, one way out as we know. So, I was um I was against that because that's that would affect just traffic patterns all in our neighborhood as well as you know probably starting to overcrowd what is already an overcrowded school. 278 homes are going in there. Um so what would be interesting is is if I was on the other side of like a planning commission, what were the positives or the takeaways that brought that in? So, it'll be it'll be good to um take another look at that or other types of decisions in the future to understand how it happened versus why it didn't happen. Um some planning things that have come, well, in 25 years, I've seen the highway bypass come in. I've seen, you know, road expansions, um uh other projects with your renovation down here. I I do like what what's been happening. Um I think those type of projects have added value to the city of Brentwood um from a practicality standpoint and probably also from a revenue standpoint. So I would say uh those types of projects I think are successful and and of added value.

Okay. Thank you. And again we are happy to repeat the questions if they aren't clear the first time. Sure. Uh what connectivity or opposition do you see between housing affordability, environmental equity, SQA compliance and restrictions and housing laws?

Wow. So your question is timely as my daughter who went through Craig Adams and Heritage and her husband are closing on their first house in Brentwood. So, housing affordability is difficult. They don't qualify for any of the special housing. Um, but they they're not like, you know, a huge deposit. So, uh, I'm experiencing that through them right now. And we need to find out what's the happy median, uh, to figure out how do people, you know, kind of afford to live here. Um, part of the reasons why I'm running for this is not just for my daughter and son-in-law. My grandkids are going to be raised here like I've done for them. So, it's important. Um, one of the things um you'll have to What were the last two you you'd mentioned?

Environmental equity, SQA compliance and restriction and housing laws.

Yeah. So um January 30th I concluded a 42 career in IT and 18 of it was with Kaiser and I understand compliance pretty well at least from a healthcare standpoint. So I think that's the um that's the dance if you can call it what you have to do is is what is required and what is needed in finding that balance between the two. You have to understand both those sides to make a a reasonable decision. Um environment is is important. Um you know what do we do with our wastewater? What do we do with our farming communities? Um we were built as a farming community 50 years ago does not look anywhere close to what we see today. So should we um should we er on the side of growth versus what got us here? Um, I don't know the answer to that, but that's part of what this planning commission needs to figure out.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. Please explain the duties of the planning commission.

I've been thinking about this uh for a while now. I think the duties of the planning commission is to look at agenda items coming their way and finding out does it add value, does it add prosperity, does it add income and what have you to the city of Brentwood. And I look at I look at Brentwood first. If you pay taxes here, you go to school here, you do business here, you live here. I mean, those are the people we need to put first. So, the real balance is is trying to figure out all the things that the planning commission needs to do that still puts those people first. Good evening. If a planning commission agenda item is cons consistent with state law, but is against your personal beliefs or wishes, would you vote against your personal beliefs upholding state law and your oath of office? So January 30th was my last day of my career and I got rewarded with a summon to be on jury duty. So like jury duty, I may not agree with circumstances or personal beliefs or what have you, but my duty as a citizen as they select me to I hope they don't select me to run for jury. um but is to be able to place the law applicable to to whatever the situation is and do it equitably. I I don't think you need to throw in anything beyond that. And if you are,

then are you really serving again the people of Brentwood first? Thank you. Vice Mayor, I'm I'm sorry, I'm muting. Um, planning commission decisions often shape a city for decades. Good afternoon, by the way, Mr. Anderson. Sorry, I should enter with that.

And your statements today give us hope that some of our children may be able to return to the city where they went to school and afford a house, but I don't know. But the planning commission decisions often shape a city for decades. Tell us about a time you had to make a difficult decision that balanced competing community interest and how did you approach it?

Community interest. Well, this may sound a little um small, but uh I own a couple classic cars and um we do these cruise nights in the city of Brentwood every now and then and uh uh I know a few of the police officers in town and and uh one of them uh Eric uh I is another car owner and I go, you know, Eric, we could we could plan a route where there'd be an outer loop and there would be an interloop and you won't have people trying to cross the street and block traffic. I mean, it's it's really a chaotic night, but it's a fun night. um whether you're a vendor down here doing great business or you're just watching the cars or even participating. But um I said we can put in a pattern that makes the flow go really good. Doesn't block any any of our uh pedestrians and you can go in and out of either of the loops and leave or enter at any time. So, I know that's kind of a small issue, but it it was something that I thought of um because after attending it, it was a little on the crazy side. So, um maybe that's a solution to might be a simple problem.

Thank you. Thank you very much. And would you like to make any closing remarks?

Well, you know, I've always said that already said that Brentwood first is is kind of my motto. Um, uh, after 25 years of living here and now I'm going to watch my grandchildren grow up here. Um, it's personal. Um, and, uh, I'm proud of my career, but now that I'm in the in my retirement days, uh, I have an opportunity to give back. And, um, I think this might be a good fit for me. And, and hopefully with the with the board and what have you, you'll you'll agree with me. So, just thank you for the opportunity to interview and I I appreciate it and best of wishes.

Thank you very much, Amanda.

Thank you. The fourth applicant has is arrived in the back, so we'll call Gerald Johnson. Good evening.

Good evening. Thank you for joining us this evening and for braving the weather and for um reapplying. Glad you enjoyed it enough to do to want to do that. Uh you know the routine. We're going to ask questions down a row and we are happy to uh repeat them if they aren't clear the first time. Um, you'll have three minutes to answer each question. At the end, you're welcome to make remarks and, uh, you're also welcome to sit and listen to the discussion. So, we will start with Council Member Mendoza. Hello.

Welcome back. Um, this one's probably an easier one for you than everybody else. So, over the last two years, can you give me two or three projects that you liked that went through planning commission and and two to three that you didn't like and the wise?

Oh, okay. Um, there was a uh a dance school uh down on Harvest Boulevard uh where young folks got to do ballet and dance and it they came out in full support of that organization. I was very happy to vote for that. That was something that was pleasurable to see happen in the community. Um, another one I liked is uh the streets of Brentwood uh with Shake Shack coming to the streets of Brentwood. Um, and uh, I like that as well. And some that I didn't like, uh, some of the tougher ones, um, what is it? Um, bridge um, bridal bridalgate. Bridalgate was tough because of the angst that it brought the community, not wanting to have more homes come into the community, not wanting to have more traffic. Uh, that was an issue. Um, and then there was one, I'm trying to remember the name of it, uh, by a school, uh, where we also had a lot of traffic issues where there's two schools next to each other. Can't remember the name of the private

Vineyard Academy. Yes, Vineyard Academy. Um, where that um, brought a lot of traffic to the community. Community didn't like it. There were videos um, posted of, you know, uh, cars going speeding down the streets. And so those were ones that I didn't particularly care for. Um, what connectivity or opposition do you see between housing affordability, environmental equity, SQA compliance and restrictions and housing laws?

Well, the state is constantly trying to get more affordable housing into the communities. Um so they are waving and they are changing SQL laws and laws in general on an annual basis. So because the state is wanting to constrict and constrict our ability to um have uh a say in what's going on in our community so to speak. The state has been uh changing the laws to make sure that they can have as many homes as possible come here. Now affordability is a key issue because without affordability of homes uh you know we can't have people live here they can't work here. So it's a very key issue but it but at the same time the state is controlling the things that um like squa laws to make it more difficult to have any say about uh increasing homes in our communities.

Thank you. Thank you for being here. No problem. Please explain the duties of the planning commission. Ah, so the way I look at it is our duties are to maintain the general plan to the best of our abilities to um abide by the laws uh set to um use our judgment in cases where um we're listening to the community in cases where there is wiggle room to use our judgment uh based on our experiences to help bring forth um to abide by the zoning and the general plan. Uh, so that's what I think that we're there to do.

Good. Good evening. Good evening. Just being consistent, sir. If planning commission agenda item is consistent with state law but against your personal beliefs or your wishes, would you vote against your personal beliefs upholding the state law in your oath of office? Yes. And uh yes, and it's sometimes you it's difficult, but the answer is yes.

Good afternoon, Mr. Johnson. Thank you um for being here. The planning commission decisions often shape a city for decades. Please tell us about a time you had to make a difficult decision that balanced competing community interest and how did you approach that

decision? Um, probably the one of the most difficult decisions I had to ever make was with the fire department downtown. Um, the federal the um, veterans were right next door to where the fire department was. Um, and there was competing interest. There were a lot of reasons why, you know, it was a county piece of property. There was a lot of reasons why, you know, the county owned the property. They leased the property. I believe it was they leased the property. But um that was a difficult decision and you had two competing forces. Nobody wants to go against veterans and safety is very important. So that was a very um difficult decision to make.

Thank you. Okay. Uh closing remarks before we finish your interview. Sure. Um again, my name is Gerald Johnson. I'm a certified management consultant. Uh I served on the planning commission for two years. I do my best to um reflect the will of the community while upholding the laws of the and the general plan and zoning, try to use my judgment to make balanced decisions as best I can to serve the city of Brentwood in the best way possible. And so, um, I thank the commit, the city council for allowing me to speak and allowing me to interview for this position. Thank you very much.

Thank you. And you can join your fellow applicants if you'd like to do that. And I think we are going to at this point move into public comments. Is that where we are? Yes, that's correct. At this time, members of the audience who'd like to speak to this agenda item uh are welcome to fill out a speaker card or raise their hand on Zoom. I do have one speaker card in person, Mr. Floor.

Thank you, Amanda. Before my time starts, I just want to make something clear. Uh as a point of order, I am the uh planning commission chair and there is a um a quorum present in the audience tonight and I want to make very very clear that the statements that I am making are my own personal views and that I intend to not discuss anything that would be coming before us that we would have to vote on. So um that's my intention. Katie, if I do something stupid, please let me know. Thank you. Thank you so much. And um on a personal note, I've been in communication with um Anita Roberts today and she is very sick. Um I won't discuss her condition, HIPPA, but uh I will tell you that she's very disappointed that she couldn't be here and she very much wants the opportunity to serve and she just regrets her inability to be here. Okay. Um the California Constitution to which we are all sworn to bear true faith and allegiance states in article 12 11 section 2A that the legislature shall provide for city powers. This is done in the government code 65101. A provides for a city for cities to create planning commissions and states. Each planning commission shall consist of at least five members all of whom shall act in the public interest. in the public interest, not the special interest, not the applicant, not city council, the public. And this is the mandate. In the eight years I've been observing and participating in the planning commission, I've been consistently impressed with Anita Roberts and her deep commitment to this principle. At a time when the planning commission seemed to be stacked with commissioners who were content to just go along with whatever staff recommended, Anita stood out as a commissioner who was willing to dig deeper. She did her homework and came prepared. She asked the questions the public would ask. To this day, Anita speaks with dignity and authority and

with deep respect for the public. She is a role model for all of us. In the last several years, I've come to know Anita personally as a friend and colleague. She's an exceptional human being. Kind, honest, caring. Anita has deep integrity and a solid moral and solid moral principles grounded in her faith. Anita knows that to do this job right, it requires a lot of work and patience. Even in times of adversity, Anita stays steady and resolute. She does what needs to be done because she believes the people deserve the best from their commissioners. The good people of Brentwood are fortunate to have her on the dice. I'm here before you to recommend and encourage you to keep commissioner and past chair Anita Roberts on the planning commission. She has more than earned her spot and her presence on the dis elevates all of us. All of us. She has the experience, the commitment, the integrity, and the desire to serve the public that qualifier qualify her as the best possible appointment. Anita Roberts deserves your vote. Thank you so much. I have no other speaker cards in person. I do have a hand raised in Zoom. Ciana, go ahead. Good evening everyone. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak. Uh we had some great candidates tonight um interviewing for uh our planning commission. However, I would like to highlight um I want to I wanted to say the guy with the North Face jacket, but uh I found his name. It's Mark Alexander. It seems like his heart is where it needs to be. He understands compliance uh legal any

um uh things that anything that needs to that is required for a good commissioner to make a legal ba legally based decision in the best interest of his community. And I want to mention that uh even though he said he retired, I would like to um think that he starts a new season serving the uh Brentwood's community. I um the next item I would like to um ask you to uh consider um Dr. Roberts uh to continue her tenure on our planning commission. Um she as um Rod already highlighted she always has the best interest of our communities at heart. She proved it um year over year um and her ethics principles and um just her just being part of this planning commission says it all. She always voted um and considered everyone's opinion uh popular or not and she always made the decisions that again serves our ser serve our community. Um the the first two candidates I have to put a pause on those because um as they were highly unprepared. one former planning commissioner. He had no idea what's going on in the city. He had no idea what a planning commissioner does. I think that was very very obvious. And the second guy, former developer, let's

not do that to our community. So, both of them are out in my opinion. And Tony, you will need to recuse yourself nominating Mr. Johnson he even today he had no idea where um the development by vineyards academy is and he didn't have the same idea where that development was when the development was in question so please do not

I have no additional hands raised Yes, Giddy. Madame Mayor, if you wouldn't mind. Uh, planning commissioner floor referenced the fact that we have a quorum of the present planning commission in the audience tonight, and I just wanted to clarify why that is not an issue. Um, under the Brown Act, a legislative body such as the planning commission cannot gather to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of that body. Your selection of new planning commission members is not within the planning commission's jurisdiction. It's not part of their subject matter. So, I just want to clarify in case there are questions on that score.

Thank you for saying that. Okay, we can move it into council discussion at this this point. Who you'd like to start?

I I will say I h I do have some concerns and I can't remember his name. the one you're in construction and you've done work for the city of Brentwood and you've done a lot of work for this you've done work for the school district too and um I just to me that's a little bit of a conflict of interest that you've done work um I just it doesn't feel I'm not comfortable with that and we have had commissioners that have had to recuse themselves before and it becomes a problem so um that is my that's I mean that's the only thing I can think of there okay what other discussion Can Can you clarify who you're You didn't say the person's name. You said just

Oh, I'm sorry. I I don't want to mispronounce his name. Let me read it to you. Hold on. Let me find Let Let me find the spelling. It's Sorry. Tahed. Thank you. And is it possible to have him clarify? Is he continuing to work in the city of Brentwood or is he does he have ongoing projects or relationships that he would have to recuse himself on? I'd like to ask a follow-up question. I'm okay with that if you'd like to approach.

I mainly do public works jobs. So the way it works is cities like Tracy, Brentwood, Brentwood Union School District, Liberty Union, they put out a bid and so we compete and as we compete, if we're the lowest possible bidder that's qualified, we get the job. I can simply not bid in Brentwood. It's that simple for me. So, it's it's really easy to separate myself, but I'm not going to separate myself as a business owner in Brentwood. I'll always be a business owner in Brentwood. I'll always be a resident in Brentwood. That's why I'm here. So,

yeah. And that's what's caused some problems with some of the um prior commissioners is the conflict of interest and also relationships. Um so, that it still continues to be my issue. I would just be apprehensive. I'm and I understand that you might not have any ill intent, but it just makes me uncomfortable. I get it. Can I ask a question? Sure. What relationships? Um I I don't know who was here before.

I mean, even even a couple meetings ago, staff knew like knew someone that knew someone. They brought a project forward and even that I feel like it just felt uncomfortable. So, I just if we could have separation from city business and businesses, I think it helps. I think it keeps things cleaner in my opinion. That's just my opinion when I'm looking at applications. Um, understood. I what I look for and what I don't look for. Yeah. Thank you. Great. Can I address that or I

I think it also No, I'm I'm pretty set on my ways. It's not going to change my opinion, but thank you. other discussion. Um I'm going to mention what what I look for, but I also think that we could move into the ranking that we're going to do once I am done with that. I um typically Okay, so some of you have noted and I completely agree we are um we're in a time where the state is trying to take a lot of control from the cities any local jurisdictions at all. And so the idea of uh bringing someone that doesn't have a clear understanding of how that works and where you can um like for example our design standards might help us to improve a project that we have to approve. So, I I really I have some hesitancy about bringing someone who doesn't understand that world well enough to be able to find nuances where you can say, "Yes, this is actually legal for me to um turn it down this way, but if they make an amendment that would actually serve the city a little bit better, I will accept that." So, I I feel like I need to bring I need to have a majority on the planning commission that really truly understands how those things work. And so it is sometimes and again I haven't made a decision yet. It is sometimes hard to bring new people in based on that. Um and I it's the planning commission this time is very different from other planning commissions in the past probably will be in the future based on the housing laws especially that have been happening lately. Um and the fact that they are pushing so hard to just build build build take all of our control away not allow us to make any decisions based on the needs of Brentwood itself. So, I always those are the kinds of things that are top of mind for me when I'm asking my questions and when I'm hearing the interactions. Um, but I do think if no one else has comments, we can move into the ranking at this point.

Mark is Mark is my first choice. Anita is my second choice and Gerald would be my third choice. And bear with us because there will be probably some times where we need to check our notes before we make our decisions. All right. My first choice is going to be Gerald Johnson and then Dr. Mr. Roberts and Mr. Ashgar. Uh, my first choice will be Gerald Johnson. Second choice would be Mark Anderson. And third choice would be is it Jamie Tobin?

My first choice is Gerald Johnson. My second choice is Tohed Ashgard. And my last choice is uh Mark Anderson. My first choice is Anita Roberts. My second choice is Mark Anderson. And my third choice would be Gerald Roberts. I mean, excuse me, Johnson. Johnson. Sorry. So, you got to make your nomination.

If those if your choices would be your nominations, you can go ahead and make your first nomination, Madame Mayor, and then we can take a vote. To be honest, I'm still kind of back and forth on number two and number three. You can take your time. I'm going to take a minute. I would like to recommend Anita Roberts, though, if we can start there. And then we'll do a roll call vote to nominate Anita Roberts as planning commissioner. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Maloney, yes. Council member Orlemans, no.

Vice Mayor Pearson, no. Mayor Meyer. Yes. The motion moves. Anita Roberts is the first appointment for planning commission.

I'm going to recommend Gerald Johnson. In the roll call vote for nominating or for appointing Gerald Johnson to the planning commission. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Maloney, yes. Council member Orleman, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. Mayor Meyer, yes. And the appointment is made. So, our two appointees for planning commission is Anita Roberts and Gerald Johnson.

Thank you everyone for um again for dedicating your time for the application process for your engagement. We hope that you will come to planning commission meetings and council meetings and uh let us know how we're doing. Thanks. We need a motion to adjurnn at this point. I'll make the motion to adjurnn. Second. Roll call, please. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Maloney, yes. Council member Orleans, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. Mayor Meyer, yes. We are adjourned.

Do we need a minute in between meetings, everyone? Okay, we're going to take five minutes. Thank you.

Good evening everyone and welcome to the regular city council meeting for February 10th, 2026. We have a quorum so we can begin. Can I get a roll call please? Council member Maloney present. Vice Mayor Pearson. Vice Mayor Pearson. That's because my microphone was muted. Apologies. I'll start the roll call over. The meeting has been called to order. Council member Maloney, present. Vice Mayor Pearson, present. Council member Mendoza, hold on just a moment, please. Vice Mayor, can you please confirm you're alone in the room?

Vice Mayor, you're mute. Your microphone is muted. I'm alone in the room. Thank you. Council member Mendoza here. Council member Orleans here. Mayor Meyer here. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. We're going to start with a presentation. Alan Balar, director of engineering, will introduce the presentation for tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, mayor, vice mayor, and city council. Uh to this evening I'm presenting alongside Door Dash representatives the Door Dash delivery robots. As a quick summary uh we have been in discussions with Door Dash and Porter Labs uh with regards to an encroachment permit and agreement to allow them to um pilot their uh robot delivery operations which they'll uh expand on uh later in the presentation. As part of this encroachment permit and agreement, uh the applicant's required to provide a deposit account. Uh along with the permit once it's issued, we've been going through permit conditions that goes over operations, um safety requirements, and some other uh key key aspects that's going to be needed to to be met prior to operation. Uh there's also insurance requirements that has to be met. Uh they also provide assurityity to cover any damages that may happen as well as uh this permit and agreement is revocable at any time. Uh in discussions with Polar Labs and Door Dash, uh this is the uh boundary they're currently looking at to initially deploy at deploy within. So this is their service boundary. It's generally within the bordered by west side by Fairview Avenue, Balfur Road to the south, um Sellers Avenue and the city border to the east and then Marsh Creek, Sunset Road and Sand Creek Road to the north. Um this is their initial um pilot area they're looking at. So they would not be operating in the rest of the city if approved. These are the at a high level these are the permit conditions we're looking at initially. Uh we we are looking for having them operate no more than two robots at any time and these two robots will be followed by a human operator with Door Dash. Uh so that would help to ensure that the robots are operating

correctly and also if there's any questions from the public that the Door Dash operator is right there to uh address any questions. In addition, uh, prior to operations, there's going to be training required of police and public works staff, uh, to ensure that police and public work staff are properly trained to know how to move a robot in the in the event it becomes, uh, uh, incapacitated within the right of way. Uh there's also hours of operation restricted between 9:00 a.m. and 7 p.m. There's also going to be um restrictions with regards to no operations within 300 ft around schools during pickup and drop off times and also no operations within a th00and foot radius around planned special events. Uh with that I'll hand it over to Door Dash to present their robot.

Can I ask a question real quick? When did your conversation start with Door Dash? I would say it started um about over two years ago. Um it I think the inquiry first came in through the city city manager's office at that time uh possibly with the assistant city manager and economic development. So there was a lot of interest from that side. Okay. Do you know how much um staff time has been spent on this in the two years? Um as far as the staff time spent on the permit reviewing it um it's hard to say. I would estimate it at maybe 12 15 hours. That's from the permit perspective. How about any other any other staff?

Uh just from meetings with uh the operator and then going over the uh encroachment permit and agreement. Do you have an estimate for that? Oh, you mean the total time after? Yeah. Um don't have one currently. We're about more than halfway through. So, probably looking at an additional, let's say, 20 hours just to get the permit and agreement completed. Okay. I have more questions for staff, but we'll move those to the end. Thank you. Sure.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and members of the city council. Thank you for having me here. My name is Henry Greenidge. I lead public policy for Door Dash Labs. and Door Dash Labs is Door Dash's autonomy and robotics division. Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight. Thank you for the city staff for the opportunity to collaborate over these past several months. Uh it is been a labor of love working with the city to bring this project to where it is today. Dot is Door Dash's commercial autonomous delivery robot. You can see DOT in the corner here tonight. Dot is compact. It's electric and it's purpose-built for short distances in neighborhoods. DOT is onetenth the size of a car. It reduces it produces zero tailpipe emissions and it's designed to operate conservatively in bike lanes, sidewalks, and in pedestrian environments. It has a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour in the bike lane and much less in areas like sidewalks. Every dot is monitored in real time by trained human operators. And if anything unexpected occurs, DOT stops and a human operator can intervene immediately before consumerf facing operations begin. Door Dash conducts detailed mapping operations along with robust community engagement and planning with the city. In terms of accountability, Door Dash takes its responsibility very seriously. We have been testing DOT for many years now. It has been operational in conquered, California, San Ramon with our biggest deployments to date in Arizona, in Tempe, Mesa, and we've recently announced expansions to Gilbert

and Chandler. We have a spotless safety records. We have had no safety incidents to date and we're quite proud of that. For Brentwood merchants, this is a real opportunity. Today, Door Dash has 216 merchants on the Door Dash platform. We average about 2,700 deliveries per day. And out of that 2,700 deliveries, about 1,200 of them remain in Brentwood. Bringing Door Dash Dot to the market is not just about bringing a robot to the streets. It's about providing merchants, customers, and dashers alternative ways to experience delivery. If you think about the way delivery is today, if it's a spectrum, we're right here. What we can do with autonomous solutions is bring it right here in terms of experience. Now, one thing I do want to make clear, we're not replacing dashers. Dashers are truly at the heart of what we do. They are the backbone of Door Dash. Not every delivery is going to be right for an autonomous delivery. But we do believe with the volumes that we are experiencing that Door Dash dot is a viable alternative. It helps Dashers, it helps customers with the experience. And of course, it helps merchants. One of the things about Door Dash is it's all about empowering local economies. We have to continue to help merchants provide for their customers and remain competitive. And we think DOT really fits in with the fabric of Brentwood. You know, one of the questions that we got from our city stakeholders is why Brentwood? It's a really great question. As you heard, we've been at this for about two years now. It is partially because we have taken a look at the streetscapes. your modern streets, uh your bicycle

infrastructure and DOT was purpose-built for those types of environments. We we've also taken a look at the profile of the merchants and recognize that we can reduce traffic trips with the introduction of DOT. Now, we are at the beginning of this work. We consider this work a true partnership. It's not just about deploying robots. We really want to work with the city on ways in which we can engage the community, educate them on what delivery is like today and what it could look like in the future. We also want to work with merchants on how to do the same. I'm here to answer any questions that you may have and welcome the opportunity to do so. Thank you.

Thank you. I I'm sure we're going to have some questions from council. Would anyone like to start? I have a question. Okay, go ahead.

Thank you so much and thank you for your presentation to this afternoon. You talked about the fabric of the city of Brentwood and um one of the things is we are a deep a community that believes and loves on its residents. Um one of the things that's really important for me is not that we just go so economic focused about driving up the dollar and uh just about merchant services, but also about building healthy communities. Can you tell us more about what um Door Dash does to help support building healthy communities and not communities that's just um going to overspend on food that may not be as healthy for it?

Absolutely. So, as I mentioned, it's not just about deploying robots. One of the things that you get with Door Dash is the full menu of services. So, for example, we do have a very robust social impact team that really focuses on how we can um further the platform. And so, Door Dash is a brand that is in every community in America. We take the health of these communities very seriously. There are a number of initiatives that we have for local residents uh that we can bring to bear. All of those are on the table for our conversations with the city. So, as I mentioned, this is the beginning of that work. We'd be happy to work with you on any of the programs that may make sense to further those goals.

Thank you. That's all my questions. Hello. Thank you for your presentation. I have a few questions. Um, one of the um points that you've pointed out is that it would be accompanied by a human. How would that work?

Absolutely. So, it works in a few different ways. Number one, we do start off slowly. So again, it's not just about putting the robot on a road uh and expecting it to operate. Uh this is a weeks to monthsl long process in which we reach several milestones in working with the city to do so. And so we first uh map the city and then we enter the mapping validation phase. During that phase, uh we typically take about two to three robots uh that are accompanied by a human operator and they're essentially validating our understanding of the world around it. And so they will remain uh with uh the robot until we reach certain milestones in terms of validating what the map uh states

on a bike and a car on foot.

Great question. So this happens on an ebike and so once we have uh concluded that process um we then um move on to autonomous operations. Now our autonomous robots are always monitored by humans. Uh the humans are interacting with the robots uh via a remote sort of satellite and so they are remote operators. They can always intervene. They can help the robot navigate. For example, if there are issues crossing a street, they can take over to cross a street. One of the unique features about the robot you're seeing here tonight, it's our third generation robot. We're quite proud of it. It has a two-way communication feature which allows us to uh have conversations with first responders and police departments and we can direct them accordingly for any emergency that is needed. We do uh train officers on how to work with us on that and are happy to roll that out here.

Have you deployed this in any other cities in Contraosta County? And if so, do you have any statistics on any types of vandalisms or destruction of these robots since that's going to take staff away uh staff's time away from what they're doing?

So, not specifically in the county yet. Uh we publicly unveiled DOT to the world uh late last September uh and since then have been talking with a number of cities uh but no we have not rolled out any specifically. Um to your point about vandalism um we have thought about that issue and we take it very seriously. So number one um DOT uh does have a hatch uh that locks and so from a safety perspective you you can't actually access uh the hatch unless you are the merchant or the customer. Um in terms of vandalism we have seen small episodes of vandalism um especially uh in other delivery robot contexts that sit on the door dash platform. Um but today uh that has been very limited for DOT. We've seen majority of those incidents in Arizona. We think the best way to combat that is with community engagement. So being out there, letting people see DOT, letting them understand how DOT actually works. Um unfortunately though, it is something that we do expect uh especially in the early stages.

Just to add, um Henry had mentioned that they're operating in conquered California. That's actually in Contraosta County. So thank you. And is basically you spoke about sensors and like communication two-way communication in this robot is it have 24 hours surveillance recording cameras. Yes. And recording devices.

So uh typically we don't operate uh 24 hours. Uh our hours of operation are developed in consultation with the city but so long as there are operations on a road uh we do have uh our our stack is running. And so the sensor suite which includes cameras, lightars and radar radars is uh operating. And then has there been any thoughtful analysis done on how many human jobs it would take? And I'm sorry. Has there been any analysis and how many like how many human jobs it would take basically eliminate?

Absolutely not. Uh because the way we use dot and the way we've designed dot is really to complement our dashers. And so what we experience today is you've got a company like Door Dash that continues to grow. We've grown minimum 20% year-over-year since the pandemic. And so what we're trying to do is really address orders that can be filled fulfilled uh with autonomy. And so what that allows for is our Dashers to really focus on orders that make more sense for them. And so in many cases those orders are larger orders. Uh so for example, if you're trying to deliver uh coffee or a sandwich, in many cases that's something that DOT can deliver and we can reserve uh dashers for orders that are larger in size.

Thank you. And last question, um would that mean you would have infrastructure in our city to store these robots? So that is an open question. That's definitely something we're exploring. Um we've got many different ways of doing this. We've um opened hubs. We've offered also opened um smaller nests. Um I don't think we specifically decided um how best we can serve uh the city of Brentwood today, but is a conversation we would have with the city and if uh we do uh open a local hub, uh we would conduct local hiring. Thank you for your answers. I have no further questions. Thank you. Um

yeah, go ahead. So, um, first and foremost for staff, I would like to stop any staff time and tax money being spent on this until we have a city council meeting so we can understand the burden on staff, the burden on police, the impact. Um, it sounds like we've already spent a lot of money, which is our residents money. I think they should have a say if this is going to happen in their town. So, I'm actually disappointed we have spent so much time on this. Um, secondly, I am familiar with the Uber Eats and um, I'm going to tell you I did not like them walking around LA. It was um, from a from a resident perspective walking around and it was smaller than that. You know, our we already have problems with the kids on the bikes and um, people trying to jog and all that. So, I do have concerns and I think those are all things that we have to talk about. Um, you know, we talked about I I don't know if you heard the hearing this last week with Whimo. Where are and their people that manage these from a far away their people are in the Philippines that are driving cars in the US. Where are your people?

So, our base of operations are in the Bay Area. So, San Francisco and Oakland, California. So, all of your remote people are in San Franc. There is no remote people anywhere outside of the Bay. I know we've experimented with uh remote operations outside of uh the US, but the bulk of our operations are in the United States in California.

The bulk, but that's one answer we're going to need. I need a guarantee that they are in the United States. I it was shocking to everyone if you heard that hearing this last week with Whimo that all of their remote people were in the Philippines and they don't even have US licenses and they're driving basically cars in the US. Um, so I think we need to discuss that, but I think we before we really as a council need to bring the public into this because they're the ones that are going to be the impacted the most. So, I will be bringing up an agenda item that we get a full report from staff and the impact to the city, the impact because there is a lot of um vandalism. There is a lot in LA on the Uber Eats. Our police department's going to get called a lot more and who pays for that? The taxpayer in Brentwood. So, I think we need to understand all of that and maybe our staff can do some um partnering with Uber Eats to understand because they've been around at it longer, understanding the van vandalism and the financial impact on a city when they bring these in because I don't think it's fair that our residents have to pay for that. Um, so I I just have a lot of concerns and I think we need to talk a little bit more. If you go online, none of our residents want it. If you like the city made a post and no one wants it. So, I think it's up to us as council people. If we're representing the people, we bring them into this conversation. I think we moved way too fast on this in my opinion.

Council member Orlemans. Sure. Go ahead. Yes, Mayor. For the record, Gerald Duffy, city manager. Um, because this process occurred during an encroachment permit, that meant that when Door Dash approached us, we had them provide a deposit and all of the staff time associated with the project comes from that deposit. So this is this is not a gift of public funds. This is a business opportunity in which we when a business approaches the city, we treat this like a business measure. So they give us a deposit and all the staff time associated with this comes directly from that deposit.

How much is a deposit? The initial deposit was $5,000, but as as as we move through it, if the the the balance goes down, they'll have to refill it to continue. And when it comes to an encroachment per permit, planning can call that encroachment permit for review. Correct. And we can actually ask for it to not be issued until it comes to council. Might have to defer to the city attorney on that one. The encroachment permit is issued in the sole discretion of the uh city engineer and there is an appeals process for applicants laid out in the municipal code but not for any other party.

So can we bring this back as an agenda item and discuss further before the encroachment permit is given out without public input? You could you could discuss the the general nature of it, but whether or not to issue the encroachment permit would be within the purview of your city engineer. Okay. So, what can council do if we're if if three of us decide that we're not happy with this or the public comes and says they're not happy with this. We're the public it doesn't matter what the public wants. The Allen can go ahead and deliver the encroachment permit. I would never say it doesn't matter what the public wants. I would say that Allan has a duty to um carry out his duties under the municipal code. So I'm I'm sure he would want to hear your opinion.

So Alan, how would you take in consideration? Are you going to do town halls? How are you going to go about that?

Well, this is the first opportunity. So uh you know, this is a great thing that we brought this forward. We really was looking for public input. Um so seeing how it was deployed in San Raone and conquered in Arizona and kind of the previous uh discussions we had with about two years ago when we started this process. It was exciting. However, that was the kind of this is tonight was the first step is as far as soliciting feedback. Um you know rest assured you know everything you everything that's said tonight is taken to account. Um I know it's within my authority to to issue. Uh for me it's all about public safety, making sure everything's done right and correctly. Um so I'll have to definitely uh confer with the city manager and we can go from there.

Okay. Um council member, go ahead. Um, in regards to the you made a statement during your presentation that you have uh deployed in conquered and San Ramon and zero safety incidents uh at either one of those two locations. Is that correct? That's correct. So no vehicle accidents, no pedestrians injured, no no. Um can the same be said about the drivers that are doing your door dash on a regular basis? I mean, I'm assuming you're part of that. You would know the statistics of that.

I don't have the statistics in front of me, but I can't say that for the drivers there are zero safety critical incidents. So, okay. Um, so the the device has not been it's been deployed in Contraosta County in two different cities and uh we have zero incidence of safety violations or or incidents of injuries. That's correct. Okay. Can I cl Can I ask I ask a clarifying question on that? Are those still with human beings walking with them or are they independent? So, uh, we have different phases. So, it's both. It's both. We've been operating in both cities for quite some time. So, not sure the heart of your question, but

So, in ceremon, do they have people with them or are they indep are the units independent? So, it it is both for this reason. When if we're testing a new branch, we will have um our operators accompany the robots. Uh but for your regular everyday operation, we are in autonomous mode. We are operating in San Ramon and Conquer. You're in autonomous mode. That's correct. Okay, we're going to move back to Council Member Orlemens. So, uh, I kind of lost my train of thought there for a second because I was, um, but did did Dash approach the city of Brentwood looking to bring this into Brentwood? We didn't reach out to you asking you to bring it, right? That's correct.

Why why Brentwood? Sure. uh for the streetscape for uh the infrastructure here. Uh because of the way DOT is designed and intended to be used, um it really is a perfect fit in terms of the types of merchants you have, the density, uh again, bic bicycle infrastructure, all of those things weigh heavily on whether DOT can be successful. And so in looking at the maps, um we recognize that we um DOT could operate here successfully. Okay, thanks.

Thank you for your presentation. Uh, obviously there are some strong feelings here and I have seen the online posts about this. There's a lot of concern. I'm not clear when you talked about the benefit to the merchant and to the dasher. How exactly do both of them benefit?

Sure. So, for the dasher, it allows them to really focus on the orders that can in some cases be more lucrative. uh for the merchant it gives them another opportunity uh to in some cases extend their delivery zone. It gives them an innovative way uh to deliver their goods. A lot of our merchants report um positive impact uh from using DOT. One of the things that we consider uh with DOT is the infrastructure around autonomy. So for example, we've developed a tool that accompanies DOT called smart scale. What smart scale does is it weighs every single order to ensure that from a payload capacity. It is appropriate for DOT but in the process what it allows for is the merchant to really track all of the orders and we have found that it is reduced missing items by 30%. And so it's another way that we can bring efficiency to merchants.

Is there any change in the cost to merchants? there's no additional cost to merchants and in fact if a customer orders via DOT there is no tipping uh function and so that is removed and so it can be an order that is cheaper.

So just to to be clear about why I think there's some of this um upset in the community is because we are a commuting community. We have a lot of people that come home from work and then the other parent, for example, might go out and Door Dash to make a little extra money. And I think there's a probably a lot of that happening here. Uh, I know my husband and I use Door Dash a lot, but I what concerns a lot of people is even though it might just be a little bit of money to some, it's really helping families get by and survive. You know, I can't I still don't quite see that it's that much of a benefit for dashers. I mean, I I guess if you're talking about making one trip for 10 sandwiches versus one trip for or five trips for a cup of coffee, right? I do you have any kind of actual statistics that show that? I mean, is there something that Conquered and San Ramon can share with us to show that their dashers are not losing any of their hours or their funding that they get from this job?

I'm afraid we are at the very beginning of this work. And so all of these metrics and by the way, Door Dash is a very data focused company. Um, so we're doing, you know, we hit 10 million deliveries a day last year, right? So we're talking lots of deliveries and so we make these decisions really looking at all of the volume that we experience. Um and so we do continue to monitor uh the impact on dashers. We don't have anything public um but this is certainly something that is ongoing um as we look at the impact of uh that. Okay. I do want to clarify too. You were talking about use of sidewalks. That's correct.

Right. Um what about someone with a stroller, someone who's got disabilities, walker, wheelchair, that kind of thing. How what does that interaction look like? Great question. So do that is designed to be very conservative. So it understands the world around it. And so if there is someone um uh that's pushing a baby or if there is someone who is in a wheelchair, dot can recognize that and can either pause accordingly or move uh accordingly. Okay. And then you heard council member Mendoza was mentioning bicyclists. We have uh large groups of kids on bikes and we also have a lot of ebikes. So some of those are moving pretty quickly. Yes.

In and out of traffic, up and down, off of curbs. What kind of reaction would there be to that?

So, um, one of the reasons why DOT moves up to 20 miles per hour is for the fact that, um, it is safer for it to keep up with traffic. Um, as that traffic approaches DOT, it is going to decide whether it needs to slow down, move to the right, or move to the left, or if it needs to stop. So, again, u DOT was designed with the bicyclist in mind. um and its primary uh mode of operations is in the bike lane. Uh we do use the sidewalk and the the thought behind that is to get as closest to both the merchant and the customer as possible, but the primary operating uh is the bike lane. Okay. Um I do did you have a follow? Go ahead.

Question two. One more question. I'm sorry. Um how many are you deploying at one time in each one of those cities conquered and Santa?

Highly dependent on the city. So it's a very very local approach. Um so I don't have exact numbers. Typically we work with the city and we decide on a cap on how many uh that we will launch uh before having to go back to the city. What I could tell you is again we would start here very small two to three robots uh that would uh help us with the map validation phase and then we would scale up from there and as part of the encroachment permit process I do recognize there will be a cap uh that we agree to with the city. So it's very much a conversation with the city that we agreed upon. And would the deployment of those robots be customer dependent or would it be merchant dependent? Like would the customer choose they want a robot to deliver to them?

Yes, that's correct. They can opt in or they can opt out. Okay. So, yeah, my questions were about um about that kind of thing. So, one of the reasons I like using Door Dash is because I will have a mom with a child in a car seat and I know that they're working hard to make a living. I do have concerns what we've talked about before. Why not just employ more drivers to give them jobs versus a robot? Why not help the community more?

Absolutely. So, one of the things about Door Dash, we're a publicly traded company. And so, if you look at, no one does this, but if you look at uh our previous reports over the last quarter, what you'll learn is that we continue to invest in growing our Dasher network. And so, when I say Dashers are the backbone of what we do, the really the heart of what we do. I mean that. And so, our investment dollars are going to uh attracting more dashers onto the network and keeping them on the network. Um, but autonomy does represent great opportunities to address that piece of the pie. We recognize that not every order is going to be appropriate for a DOT. Uh, but we can remove cars from off the road. We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We can uh work with schools and students on robotics and show them real world deployments. There are lots of benefits that we are seeing. And I I do have to tell you um so far, you know, the um feedback has been overwhelmingly positive uh from the experience, not only for merchants, but uh the general public as well. Um all of your questions are completely valid. I'm happy uh to have a separate meeting with you to go through each one of them um and just bring just more awareness as to how we're addressing certain concerns.

Um I would like a town hall. So, one of my standard practices is I do not have separate meetings. anything I talk about, I talk in front of the public. I don't think it's appropriate to have closed door meetings when it's something that's going to impact the public. So, I would like to have a town hall where um the public really understands what's going to happen, especially the neighboring areas where the map showed. I think that's important that we do that. But I again go back to if given the choice between this robot and a mom or a dad or a teenager trying to save up money or a college student, I choose the person every single time. So um so that I you know that's I will choose my residence every single time. Um my my other question is what is you mentioned that you're a data focused company. That's correct.

And I guess one of my disappointments was that there isn't a lot of data in the presentation today. Um when I'm asking questions about how many of your conquered and your San Ramon ones are with a person and not I don't get a clear answer. So it's hard when people don't show me data and just sell me. It's hard for me to believe what you're and I'm not saying you're lying, but be when I don't have concrete data, it's very hard for me to believe some stuff. Again, watching the hearing with Whimo, it was very eye opening to me this last week. Um, so Alan, my question is, what's the standard width of a sidewalk? Standard widths in Brentwood, they I would say most of them are standard is four feet.

And and how wide is this? Believe it's 30 in. That's correct. So, I don't understand if I'm in a wheelchair and I'm going down the street, where does it go? Does it go into the landscaping because that's not enough space. As I mentioned, the primary area of operation is going to be the bike lane. And so, it does utilize sidewalks. It does use parking lots, all of those things. It traverses all of those things, but it's primarily operating in a bike. It's primary, but when it's on the sidewalk,

right? And so in your in your hypo, it it really is dependent on the situation. It could pause uh to allow uh the passing. Um that's probably what it's going to do in most instances. Um I'm not sure I follow the question. So if I'm if there's someone in a wheelchair going down the street and this Whimo's coming, why should they be the ones that have to move? I mean, you just said I mean, it's just move. if they can't leave the the sidewalk, how does the wheelchair get through? If it's four feet, 30 inches, you know, it's just it's not doesn't

I think I understand the heart of your question. So, it it's highly dependent on the situation in that given scenario. That sounds like that might be something that our remote operations team would step in. They might need to remove the robot or or allow it to um offer more space uh to to the other person in the wheelchair. It's highly dependent on the scenario that

Okay. So, when you guys come back, can you come back with the scenario that I just explained? Somewhere where there's landscaping on the sides of the sidewalk, where there's a wheelchair, what happens? And I also want to know exactly how how many people are here locally on the remote and how many people are not here in California on the remote because I do think that it happens a lot where the remote people are the ones that take care of it because they see it through the cameras. So, I'd like to understand how many and where they are. So, and the vice mayor has a question too. Go ahead.

Thank you. Um, my question is to uh, director Bakiar. The timeline for the encroachment for the decision. When would that how much time do we have? I know everything is a time up um, slotted. So, just wanted to know what the timeline looks like for your decision making.

May I chop in here, please, mayor? Um there there is no timeline here. This particular item has been in the pipeline for the last two years. When I saw this item, I wanted to bring it to the council so we can have a discussion. We are not going to be issuing a encroachment permit. The purpose of this particular meeting today is to daylight this situation and have a conversation. And that is the that is the point of this. For the Door Dash company to be in the process for two years while the city decides internally whether you want to proceed or not isn't fair to the Door Dash company isn't a good business steward. So I requested that Allan and Allen and the police department engage the company and bring them to the policy makers so we can have this discussion. After the discussion based on this, I will get some direction from the council and I will prepare a report and bring it back to the council and the policy body can make a decision whether we move forward or not and issue the permit.

Thank you for that clarity. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is do we have any timeline for encroachment permits or is it can it just go on for years and years and based on what you just said it sounds like it can. Well, Allan can issue the permit permit, but he will not issue the permit based on my direction, especially based on this conversation. The purpose of the meeting today was to have this conversation. So, the council can can give us some direction on how we move forward.

Okay, I'm I'm going to move in at this point. I think we've had a a good conversation, but it does sound like we need to have a little bit more. Um, Harold, thank you for explaining. And I'm glad this was brought forward so that we could have this public conversation, but I also feel like this was um it was agendaized as a presentation, not necessarily as a discussion item. And so we need to both keep that in mind and also keep in mind that it means that the public might not realize that they can have input during this time. And so I would really like to have some sort of format for which the the public can comment, ask questions, whatever that looks like. Um and I appreciate the the answers to the questions. I know it was a lot. we when we hear a lot of concerns from the community, we in turn are going to bring them forward to make sure that they're answered. But it does sound like we we have more um than what we're able to answer tonight. I would also like to see our staff interacting with Conquered and San Ramon, both PD and staff, to get a better understanding of how they're feeling about this and maybe what they're hearing from their residents as well. And mayor, I think it's also very important that we also reach out to the 216 uh uh companies that you that you referenced to see how the business community feels about this also. So, we'll come we'll certainly come back with a a comprehensive view of the process.

Uber Eats and I think reaching out to Uber Eats because I did see a lot of vandalism in Westwood with these units. Thank you. Thank you again for your presentation, for coming out and answering our questions, and for understanding that we we just really want to make sure that the public has a chance to ask and understand and and learn a little bit more before we move forward. Um, thank you to staff for the pre uh presentation and you have the direction you need to move forward at this point. Okay, thank you.

Thank you for your time. Moving into public comments. The public comment time for tonight's items will be two minutes each. In order to ensure that all speakers feel welcome to share their views, members of the audience are kindly requested to refrain from applauding or speaking to the council from the audience without being called upon first.

At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on items that are not on the agenda, items that are underformational reports or on consent calendar. Requests for future agenda items. New requests. Comments for the meeting's detailed agenda items or business items should be made when those items are called. Please limit your remarks to two minutes. The microphone will be muted when the timer expires. The first few speakers I have is Rachel and Jaden, followed by Rich, followed by Christina. Good evening, Mayor Meyer and esteemed city council members. I want to start off by truly thanking you for your time. Um, I'm Rachel Lei, one of the pres the president of Heritage Speech and Debate, and we're here to address some issues with our club.

So, um, for some quick context, hello, I'm Jaden Spears. I am the section leader um, for the impromptu speech team. Um, we are the Heritage High School speech debate team and in the last five years we've grown to over a hundred members and have fundraised over $17,000 in the last year alone. And our impact is seen within this community specifically because on this very youth commission, five out of the 10 members come from our team. And we are coming here today specifically because we were referred to you from Miss Carolina Wit who described that we could have have some help with granting a grant or a stipen to our teacher. Specifically, despite our club's successful track record, our program is on the verge of a shutdown. And speaking with dozens of our teachers, we have found that the stipen is the main issue as to why we are encountering any issues with actually getting an adviser for next year. Um specifically to incentivize our teachers and administration to pursue a um recruitment of our speech and a bay coach, we come to you to ask for consideration of a city council uh funded grant to fund an annually renewable stipend for a heritage speech and debate coach. Specifically, the LUHSD stipend is 2,600 and we would like to ask for something of a similar amount. Otherwise, we would appreciate receiving any form of contact or any relevant information as to how we can better recruit for a teacher this coming year. Thank you for allowing us to speak tonight and we hope that we can help our students find our their votes.

Can staff follow up, please? Yes, mayor. We follow up. The next speaker is Rich, followed by Christina, followed by Paul. Amanda, can you please um adjust the camera to show the speaker from the background? Thank you.

I'm going to start off a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. I'm going to read a demand letter that was sent to the city council, mayor, city manager, city attorney, and the uh interim chief of police. Yolanda RmIrez, an elderly Brentwood resident who suffered needlessly and died while being in custody of the Brentwood Police Department. Our family is devastated by her violent, untimely death and deeply disturbed by the city's handling of this matter. Indeed, the tragedy of her death has been compounded by the continuing failure of accountability, transparency, basic respect for human life exhibited by the city over the last four months. Our family demands justice for the killing of our beloved Yolanda. To begin restoring public trust and do what's right, we formally demand the following actions to be initiated by the mayor and city council. First and foremost, pursuant to California government code 27491.6, interim chief of police Walter Grodnik and city attorney Katherine Wisnitzki must formally request a coroner's inquest and encourage the coroner to utilize a jury during the process. Contraostasa County forensic pathologist James Caruso claimed that Yolanda RmIrez's manner of death was due to natural causes which is deeply troubling and inconsistent with the findings of an independent medical examiner which concluded that the manner of death was homicide. Given these conflicting conclusions, a corner's inquest is essential to ensure transparency, credibility, and restore public confidence. I'm going to have uh some

other people finish the rest of our demands since I'm running out of time.

Christina followed by Paul followed by Becky.

Did my time start? No. Oh, okay. My name is Christina Webster and um this is my first time at city council and I just want to say I wish I was here under different circumstances because the fact of the matter is we see Yolanda and and and she was she died in in custody. Are you serious right now? You have to have a 19-year-old come home. I didn't even get to go home. Actually, I had to come here straight after work to come sit here and talk to a room full of adults about how we need to get justice for this woman. Period. Point blank. Why isn't there an inquest? We've seen this happen with George Floyd. We've seen this happen with Bana Taylor. So what? So what do we have to do for y'all to hear us? Because the community has spoken. Y'all can't sit here and say y'all don't know how the community feel or or whatever excuse it could be. I don't know if any of y'all have anything to do with it. And frankly, I don't care if there's nothing done about it. Because the fact of the matter is is if all you here can see everybody who who stopped what they were doing their own life in this economy, we stop what we're doing to come help her out and y'all can't even listen, y'all won't do nothing. I'm not saying y'all haven't cuz I I don't know. I really don't. But if nothing does happen, then then that's a real problem. And that really hurts the trust of the entire community. And that's what y'all represent. Y'all represent us. Y'all represent Brenwood. Y'all represent America. Y'all represent every single person that walks through them doors. Every single one of them. So when you want to represent us, you represent this right here. We want justice for her. Period. Point blank. That's all we want. That's it. That's it. And that's all. And I'm so embarrassed to be around here and to say that this is happening in a place that I call home. Seriously, real life. Because this isn't a joke. I'm a 19-year-old. I should be at a party right now. But no, I'm sitting here in city council talking to y'all.

Free Congo, free Sudan, free Palestine, and Israel.

Next speaker is Paul, followed by Becky, followed by Jenna. I want to give a quick uh shout out to former city manager John Elum, a very dear friend of mine for 26 years. Aaron Peachman is still working. There's a homicide summary from the second autopsy. The chief of police, city manager, and the city attorney are probably the only three in this room who has seen the footage of that killing. I called the police union phone number and it's disconnected. Erin Peachman is titled CEO and president of the police union. He's the leader of your police force. And you don't have any problem with that at all. This type of incident, you need a program like the Felton Foundation that goes in to deescalate these type of slight domestic quarrels. I'm surprised by all the women on the city council, the mayor and the city attorney. This was violence against a woman, an elderly woman. Haven't heard anything about that. The footage, as you said, is going to be released on the 28th or by the 28th. That's eight in 18 days. and the horrific experience of this family. You should be ashamed of what you have put them through. And then we still need we're

still going to hit another tsunami. I am requesting that hopefully Councilwoman Penicia leads the charge for a coroner's inquest. Do something for your pride. Thank you. So, here we are all again. I'm sure you guys are getting tired of seeing us. I know I'm tired of coming because I hate public speaking. It gives me anxiety. I also hate that I cry each time I'm here, but I can't hold in the tears. But despite my discomfort, I will continue to show up because my mom's no longer here to tell us what happened to her. Uh we uh let's see. We still have not had time to grieve and the pain is raw. My family and I are constantly busy sharing her story that our grief has taken a backseat. I'm emotionally drained and I don't do nearly as much as my dad and my brother do, my brother Richie do. So, I can't imagine how exhausted they are. But if we aren't out here advocating, then everyone would have no choice but to believe the lies the police department are trying to spread to cover their asses. That she was trying to flee, that she was resisting arrest, that she had a medical emergency, and that she died of natural causes. But then to further mock us by releasing the footage of the Christmas Eve incident before my mom's, an incident that occurred three months after hers is ridiculous. If it wasn't for our badass attorney, Melissa Nold, helping guide the way, we would be nowhere near the truth of what happened that day. She committed no crime for her to flee from or resist arrest from. Witnesses say there was no reason for her to be treated the way she was. She did not have a medical emergency or die of natural causes. She was brutalized with

blunt force trauma to her body and a fracture to her skull. Why is the coroner's report so skewed from our independent findings? This is why we demand a coroner's inquest to find out why the coroner didn't do his job. But that falls in line with the rest of the people investigating this incident. Nobody seems to be able to do their job and give us the answers we deserve. How are we supposed to trust those meant to protect us if they're constantly hiding the truth and gaslighting the community? We're not the people we once were. The Good evening, council members. I am here to speak on behalf of the Ramirez family, a family that I am deeply proud to be a part of. I have attended prior meetings where the death of Randra Ramirez following the encounter with while in the custody of Brentwood Police Department has been raised and I have some points to add. To say that there is something special about the Ramirez family is a vast understatement. The Ramirez family is an integral part of Brentwood's foundation through tangible and lasting contributions to this city. That history only deepens the disappointment and heartbreak I have felt since my sister-in-law lost her life. I find it profoundly contra contradictory to witness this same council who once honored the matriarch of this family in this very room now turned the coldest of should of shoulders to her children. The name Alicia Morales Ramirez is fam familiar to many of you due to this council's decision decision to honor her legacy by placing her name on the Brentwood Elementary School building. Yet today, rather than extending respect to her family, you offer silence. No

acknowledgement, no response, no guidance as they plead for answers. City council's oversight does not end when an issue becomes uncomfortable. You oversee public public safety. You oversee the police department. You are responsible for responding to constituent concerns. Inaction is not neutrality. It is a choice. If it it has been said that officer impeachment follow procedure, prove it. Provide the body cam footage. Provide the procedural documents. The another slogan that is famous part of this family is not dees which means don't give up or don't let them which came to them from their their mother who was honored by this council. This family is not going to give up. They will continue to seek justice and they will continue to say no to deis when a justice is The next speakers are Francis, followed by Rudy, followed by Mary. Hey, city council members, here we are again, four months later, and we're still waiting for answers. Why is it taking until the end of February to release the body cam video? Is it because it'll show that officer Peachman and the unidentified police woman did not follow protocol and procedure? Why has the police woman not been identified yet? Is it possible that she was a trainee or she is a trainee, a relative to somebody, someone who should not have been there? We don't know. All this cover up and no transparency has resulted in a total lack of

credibility for any of you. If Officer Peachman and the unidentified police woman had had followed correct police protocol and procedure which includes deescalation first. I saw that in the police manual. We wouldn't be here. According to state law, the body cam video should have been released 45 days after the incident. How can we have confidence in a police department that chooses to not follow state law? City council members, city attorney Wisinski, interim police chief, sadly you are all digging a huge hole for yourselves. When the truth comes out, it's going to be bad for all of you. All we have asked for at each and every meeting we have attended is for transparency and accountability. This shouldn't be difficult if the officers had followed the Brentwood Police Department mission statement that says to protect and enhance the quality of life through uncompromised dedication, professionalism, and innovative police services and our core values. Integrity, I don't think so. Passion, possibly. Accountability, zip, respect, no. We have not seen evidence of any of these. Please do your jobs. Do what you were hired to do.

The speaker's timer has expired. I'd like to thank everybody for showing up again and keep showing up again to show these Please hold on to his timing until he starts speaking to to the council. Thank you.

Um I'm confused again. You guys have shown us nothing. No video, no audio, anything. Yet you have somebody murdered again Christmas Eve and you already released all of that stuff. Why? What's What's different? What's what makes their skate their case more special than what we are going through? You cleared everything up for them real quick to where you could put out that video. We've been asking you guys since forever and you guys just sit there. You don't say anything because protocol about uh investigation, ongoing investigation, every excuse that you can think of. There were none. There were no excuses for this murder that happened on Christmas Eve. You guys released all that information right away. Why? Why them and not us? Our family is just as important to us as theirs is to theirs. And here we are pleading with you guys again. It falls on deaf ears. It seems like nobody seems to really care. You you it seems like you guys uh get offended by us showing up by talking and relating all these stories. This man here who was supposed to be the chief of police interm what's his job? Why pay him? Does somebody else tell him what to do? Then they should get paid more money and not give any to to him. He's supposed to be taking care of the citizens of Brentwood, keeping us safe. They're doing it the opposite. You've already had

the speaker's timer has expired. You can start the timer. My name's Mary Ramirez Palasio. Yolanda was my sister-in-law. I have so many things I could have said, so many questions, but I realize my words would be falling on deaf ears. You guys don't care. You've not listened to our questions, our comments, our

demands. We come from all over California to come to these meetings to support our family. We're going to keep coming. We won't go away until we get justice for Yolanda. With your help or without it. The next speakers are Wes, followed by Bridget, followed by Franklin. That's power when you can stare them down to say a word. It's getting to be not because of this incident, but that we're living in a time where protect and serve seems to mean protect property and serve the rich, not protect the community. You know, my my name is Wes Nicholson. I'm here from Conquered and I've had my bout with the city of Conquered before and I know police are not really always the first ones to say the truth. No offense, but that's the way it is and it's a sad day. Well, let me say first, I wouldn't trust that guy, Sheriff Livingston, as far as I could throw him. We all know that he's big on the eupheanism. Uh a what is it again? A static delirium. Now that's the euphemism that got outlawed in California last year. That's the eupheanism that cops use when they kill somebody. And so you got a little bit different

twist on the eupheanism, but everybody knows she was killed as a result of the way the Brenwood police handled her. and you don't have to be a genius to figure it out. So, I kind of got the feeling that maybe the city of Brentwood or maybe the city of Brentwood's police department got a little bit of a ICE wannabe because I'm seeing this behavior. Not that it hasn't happened before in Contraosta County, but it's getting to become the I hold my swear word. It's getting to become the norm in the country. Take down people. Abuse them. Hurt them. You guys aren't ICE. But you're Bridget. Good evening, council. We're here again. We're not going to not be here. Anytime we can be here because this is Yolanda. She was a human being. She wasn't a hashtag. It's justice for Yolanda. the human being. You guys, you crack me up. You right there, U. Mendoza, you're so worried about what people in Brentwood are going to pay for uh Door Dasher. Do you have any idea what they're going to pay for a lawsuit

for misconduct for um a killing of a 72year-old woman? A cover up? The violation of not giving out the video in 45 days. You didn't contact any attorney. I'm here because I'm friends with their attorney. I'm here because Yolanda needs justice. I never knew Yolanda. That doesn't matter. I don't know if any of you ever knew Yolanda. Doesn't seem like it. If so, you're really crappy friends. But bottom line is when is when when is it going to be too much? I mean, 45 days, we're on over 130 now. What's up? And so now we're going to wait and we're going to wait and we're going to wait and then you think this is bad. Wait until the video comes out. Then you're going to have a really bad firestorm on your hands. And what are you going to do about it? There's nothing you're going to be able to do about it. And you're retiring because you're just running with your tail between your legs. The next speaker is Franklin, followed by Robert, followed by Jane.

Hey everyone, back u with the family here and um I need to retract something because it turns out that you might not be the family representative. You should still be there and talking to them though, so it's not an excuse. But I think you're their representative. District three. on Zoom.

Is that you on Zoom? U I thought it was district three, whoever that is. But whoever the district representative is, if it's uh you Pentisha, um you should be out there with this family. And it doesn't eliminate any of you all from being out there as council members to be actual leaders to your community to speak with this family to be out there and to demand this video be released in a timely manner which it was not because you leave everybody speculating to what happened. And we saw how you released the video for the other shooting that seemed um justified for you all. It came out rather quickly. Um, one thing that we're here for tonight for sure is to demand that you all say something and request coroner's inquest, which was put in place for people that had died in custody to have a protection so it could be determined by a jury. So, that's one of the ask tonight. And I feel like you all haven't done much as leaders for this community, for this family, but you could do this. So, we're hoping um as we leave here that I know you don't talk back because of your Robert's rules or whatever, but maybe you could say yes to this family that we're going to request a coroner's inquest because they already had got their second autopsy and the results. You already know this corer's inquest. Even though, like Wes said, no one really trusts um Livingston and the county, it's on an official document and it's a jury of peers. So, can you all at least do that and request this corner's inquest for the family?

Robert followed by James. Hello, I'm Robert, um son-in-law to our beloved Yolanda Ramirez. I'm going to continue on with Richie's um message that he wanted to share with y'all. Additionally, the family demands the following actions by the city. Immediate removal from active duty. Officer Aaron Peachman and the unidentified female officer involved must be removed from active duty immediately pending the outcome of full and independent investigation. Their continued presence and unchecked reckless behavior un undermine the integrity of any investigation and further erode public trust in Brenwood Police Department. Number two, recusal of council members. Council members Fay Maloney and Tony

Orleman must rec recuse themselves from any decisions, discussions, or votes related to the actions of Officer Peachman in the death of Yolanda. Officer Peachman publicly endorsed both council members during their election campaigns. Recusal is necessary to eliminate any perception of conflict of interest and bias, thus preserving the integrity of the investig investigative and decision-making process. Number three, immediate release of all records and evidence. The city must immediately release all relevant documents and evidence related to this incident, including but not limited to all incident and police reports, all original video footage, body warn cameras, dash cameras, and any videos obtained from neighbors and third parties, all dispatched and communication records. Number four, implementation of nonlaw enforcement crisis response alternatives. The city must commit to alternative and innovative solutions to mitigate preventive 911 related crisis. Lastly, creation of

Jane.

Hi, my name is Jane. and I'm a board member with Together We Stand, a nationally recognized social justice organization. And I got to tell you, um, I'm apologize for my appearance. I was in San Francisco today. Uh, but I've been here a number of times and I'm happy to drive out from Ocean Beach to come here and tell everybody that this is We're tired of it. It breaks my heart to see this family here. You guys have to have some accountability. I think it's great that you're talking about a robot for, you know, 40 minutes, but these are people and they lost their mother. Let them have some closure. What if it was your mother? I have no additional speaker cards in person. I do have hands raised in Zoom. The first hand is Danny. Danny, go ahead.

Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay, good. It's been a long time and boy did I pick the wrong day to do this from home. Uh, and I'm talking about that quote unquote presentation. I'll save that for another day. But to those that are listening, all right, um there are a few things that unfortunately in the six years I have been watching the sausage being made uh that there are areas of clarity that need to be stated. Okay. Uh, but let me be clear. The five members of the city council have made mistakes. That said, I need to make other things clear. One, the female officer is not a rookie. I suspect one of the reasons for holding her name back is because of the city where she was previously employed. The council is being guided by quote unquote legal counsel. This council, I believe, has no interest in protecting the people we elected, good, bad, or indifferent. And you know, if you know me, you know, there is at least one person I can't stand, but all five of you were elected. And this council, which I hope to God doesn't include our city attorney, because if she is, oh my god. But I digress. Um, I believe these entities are trying to protect themselves. Maybe Brentwood PA, maybe the county, maybe the DA's office, cuz remember folks, the DA was involved October 3rd. The council

found out the same day we did, November 5th. So, no one from staff, no one from the DA's office. The speaker's timer has expired. The next speaker is Justin. Justin, go ahead. Hi, everybody. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Great. Uh, my name is Justin Feldman. I am the principal research scientist for a nonprofit organization called the Center for Policing Equity. I'm also an affiliate of the Harvard University FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. I have a doctoral degree in epidemiology and I've been studying deaths in police custody, much like that of Yolanda Ramirez for the last decade. And I am giving comment to urge city council to um recommend or approve an inquest uh in this death. And I have some serious concerns about how the death investigation was handled and uh need for public scrutiny on it. So in Contra Costa County there is a sheriff carer system. This goes against the recommendations of the National Association of Medical Examiners, the main professional association for Forensic Pathologists, which says uh pathologists should be independent of law enforcement. I have seen in my own research and the research of others that sheriff coroners are less likely than other death investigators to find that deaths in police custody were homicides. In fact, I looked at all of the deaths in custody that happened under similar circumstances to that of Miss Ramirez since 2005. There were 18 of them. Zero of them were classified as homicide. Just like you don't do closed door meetings with Door Dash. Um I am saying the pathologist should not be trusted to do a closed dooror meeting to determine a very complex case. the evidence needs to come to light so there can be a more comprehensive uh determination. Thank you for your time.

The next speaker is Senziana. Ciana, go ahead.

Hi, good evening. I have a couple of uh remarks. Uh, first I want to um express my um deepest sympathy to Yolanda's family. Uh this heartbreaking and um I hope they get closure soon. Uh I am not an expert in law or anything but um you know the process needs to uh take its course. Um uh however I my uh I would like to offer a couple of comments on the Uber Eats uh presentation. I'm not really sure who came about with that idea. Um it is terrible for our city. It is a an a very clear case of big corporation against a simple people especially in a city where we don't have jobs delivery services for food or what have you. Um it's one of the few means of uh our residents in Brentwood to bring additional income for their families and make um ends meet. Um whomever again came up with this idea shows lack of knowledge about our city and our economic development situations and need to be fired. And I have couple names in mind but uh I'm expressly uh going to name Ricardo Noggera. He has been on economic development roles for several years with no result. So I want to hear what he has to say about this bad idea. And I really hope

the city council um uh scratches this at least until we have um you know livable wage uh type of uh jobs coming to our city. Thank you. The next speaker is SB. SB, go ahead. Hi, my name is Sarah. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can. and I'm speaking as a private citizen today. Um, city councils don't or shouldn't operate in a silo. How none of you, including those who have left or are about to quit, how none of you knew what we'd been saying in Antioch at city council meetings. We've been calling out people who sit on, run for, or advise city council or city governments for refusing to give a crap enough to ask for a report when there's a law enforcement shooting or anyone dies in police custody or when someone dies after contact with police. How hard is it to both receive a report from the police and to then report out to the public? If the police are just doing their job and if you can't edit video, why not do those things and report out soon after? Make it a part of your city manager report. This isn't a new idea. No more sweeping things under the rug anymore. The rug is filthy, frayed, and we can see underneath it. Now, what makes me think that you'll change as a governing body? I don't know. I will ask you to ask yourselves instead of asking yourselves how are we going to pay this out? How do we fix optics? How do we protect any violent police? Ask yourself, was this elder abuse? Was this murder? If so, who's complicit? And how long will this haunt you? Just try to lead with your heart and make good, loving decisions. The next speaker is Maria. Maria, go ahead. Evening um council members, madame

mayor. Um happy Black History Month. I can't believe that we're at this juncture. I'm Maria Dominguez. I'm a resident of Contraosta County and I work for Contraosta Health. I'm here in my personal capacity. We have a crisis line in our county. A crisis line that was designed after the unfortunate death of another Contraosta County young person. And it came out of a lot of pain. And it pains me that the response of this city's police was not to engage in deescalation and engage other resources to help this family. It also appalls me that this city council has been using the excuse as there's active litigation to not do something to protect the residents of the city of Brentwood. How can you let police officers who are involved in such an event, if you want to call it an event, to go back like it's business as usual. That's such a liability. I don't understand how the city council would not call for so many of the actions that have been brought up by public comment today to look into how do you hold your police accountable? How could you do better in holding your police accountable? There's nothing that precludes you from doing that generally. You should have been doing that years ago, especially given the state of our policing in the United States. And it's so disrespectful that nothing has been said about why the body cam footage has not been released yet. The code calls yes for extensions, but you should at the very least let the family know, let the residents of the city of Brentwood would know why you keep

delaying the release of the body cam footage. The speaker's timer had expired. I have one additional hand raised in Zoom. Stephanie, go ahead. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay, great. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Stephanie Williams Rogers and I am a Brentwood resident. I'm speaking tonight to express my support for the family of Yolanda Ramirez and the request for a coroner's inquest. My understanding is that a coroner's inquest is a public independent factf finding process meant to clarify the cause and manner of death is not about assigning blame but about transparency and answering unanswered questions. When a death occurs while someone is in police custody, it understandably raises concern and uncertainty in the community. An independent and public review can help ensure that the facts are clearly established and shared openly. I recognize that the city does not have the authority to order an inquest, but I respectfully ask that the council consider formally requesting or supporting a coroner's inquest through the appropriate county channels. Doing so would demonstrate a commitment to transparency, accountability, and public trust. Thank you for your time and for considering this request.

I have one last hand raised. Medis Soul, go ahead.

Hi. Hey, um thanks for the presentation on the Door Dash robots and the explanation that the city manager gave that this was just a presentation and hopefully he um can go back and maybe stop this in its tracks. I was just in LA for a whole week. I was there for six days actually and um they were everywhere those little robots and they are so annoying but you kind of expect it in something like a big city like Los Angeles. Even conquered is bigger than us. Um even San Ramon is a little busier. I just don't think it's the right fit for Brentwood and I think a lot of the concerns with the sidewalks, the bike lanes, um I we have so many bikers here. We have so many people that come in from other cities to come and bike our town. I just don't think this is the right fit for the Door Dash robots. So, I really do hope that um it goes back to city staff and it just kind of disappears forever. Thank you.

I have no additional hands raised in Zoom. Thank you, Amanda. Thank you for your comments. Um, we would never tell you to not speak, by the way. Never. Um, and I I hope that you know when you come to speak that we are doing our best to listen in in the way that we can. And um, if we see you next time, then we see you next time and you are absolutely welcome to to share your voice. We're going to move into consent calendar

and we are going to take a very brief break. three minutes and then come back and uh review the consent calendar.

Can everyone please get seated so we can start up again? Is everyone ready to go? Vice Mayor, are you ready?

Wonderful. Thank you. We're going to reconvene. That's all. I'm sorry. So, I I've been here. I've been just waiting for the camera to come on. Okay. Thank you. Moving into consent. Do we have any questions? anything to pull or we want to do we have a motion? Um I do not have any questions but we are on page three. We went ahead. Do you need a motion? We need a motion. Um motion to adopt consent calendar on all items. I second that motion. Can we get a roll call, please? Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson?

Yes. Yes. And I'm in a room by Thank you. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orlemans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. The consent is adopted. Thank you. Moving into business item. Chris Zean, assistant director of public works will present this item regarding the MSC pavement rehab project.

Good evening, honorable mayor, vice mayor, city council members, and staff. The item for your consideration tonight is an asphalt rehabilitation project on the east side of the municipal service center and solid waste transfer station. The municipal service center serves as a critical operation hub for the city of Brentwood supporting public works, solid waste, and other essential municipal services. Over time, the pavement throughout the facility has experienced significant deterioration, including cracking, surface breakdowns, and early structural failures. Staff is bringing this project forward now in order to prevent the road condition from becoming a safety concern or impacting operational efficiencies. The area highlighted in red on the map shows where the pavement rehabilitation work will occur. The portions of the roadway being repaired are 13 years old and subject to regular heavy vehicle traffic. Approximately 65 solid waste trucks and five semi-truckss access this road each day. The heavy truck traffic causes the road to wear out prematurely. While staff has performed routine maintenance on this section of roadway over the years, including crack sealing and patch paving, these efforts are no longer sufficient, and the road requires rehabilitation to remain functional. In addition to rehabilitating the existing pavement, the project includes expanding the asphalt by approximately 12 feet in select areas to allow existing gravel parking stalls to be fully paved along with targeted storm water and drainage improvements within the parking lot area. These upgrades will improve accessibility, functionality, and reduce ponding during rain events.

The project was publicly advertised and 12 bids were received. The lowest bid received was for 341,860. Staff reviewed all 12 bids and recommends awarding the contract to Mountain Cascade Incorporated, which submitted the lowest responsible and responsive bid. For reference, the city's engineering estimate came in at $440,000 and staff is pleased with where these bids came in at. Staff is requesting a 15% contingency or $51,279 to cover any unanticipated complications. Including the contingency, the total project cost is $393,139. The project will be funded entirely through the solid waste enterprise fund with no impact to the general fund and sufficient budget is available to cover this cost. As detailed in the staff report, staff is requesting council adopt the resolution awarding the project to Mountain Cascade Incorporated, approving the contract documents and authorizing the city manager or designate to execute the contract and ne necessary documents. This concludes staff's presentation and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much, Chris. Are there any questions from council? Okay, we can move into public comments. At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. We receive zero written public comments in advance of this item. I have no speakers in person or hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. Closing public comments and moving into any discussion.

I just want to say thank you for presentation. That was good and it was quick. I loved it. Thank you. and it just got to the point. She likes that. And um thank you. We If we're ready for a motion, I'm ready to make a motion. So I move to adopt a resolution approving the contract documents awarding the bid and authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Mountain Cascade, Inc. I'll second. Roll call, please. Council member Maloney, yes. Vice Mayor Pearson, yes. And I'm home. Council member Mendoza, yes. Council member Orbins, yes. Mayor Meyer.

Yes, the item passes. Thanks again, Chris. Moving into item H2. Alexis Morris, community development director, will present an item regarding the release of the initial study mitigated negative negative declaration for the East County Service Center project.

Good evening, honorable mayor, vice mayor, and city council. This is an update on as the mayor said on the release recent release of the notice of intent to adopt an initial study mitigated negative declaration which I'll refer to as ism andd for the county service center project. The m and the notice of intent was released on January 29th 2026. The public comment period will end February 23rd at 5:00 p.m. So close of business. The project is located on county-owned parcels located at Brentwood Boulevard and Technology Way. The proposed project includes approximately 120,000 square feet of building space, 409 parking stalls, 441 county employees, and improvements on adjacent streets in the city of Brentwood. Public access for the project will be from Technology Way and the project will feature staff only gated access points from Brentwood Boulevard and Business Center Drive. Um I confirmed with the county today that they believe construction could start as early as March 19th with rough grading and could take approximately 20 months. So the ISM andd process uh for public comments as I said the they must be submitted by 5:00 pm uh February 23rd. The addresses on uh where those comments can be submitted are included in the staff report for the public. The ISM and D is available online at the U link you see here on the screen and it's also attached to the staff report tonight. Uh, city staff from multiple departments are currently reviewing the ISM andd for its technical accuracy and adequacy of its mitigation measures and will submit a formal comment letter by the deadline.

As far as the city's processes related to uh the county service center project, this project is located on countyowned parcels. Therefore, the city has limited authority over the project per the California government code. However, in addition to submitting SQA comments, the city does have the authority to take action on a couple of items. One would be an issuance of an encroachment permit uh for the improvements that they are proposing within the city's rideway. This is a ministerial permit. We've already discussed that a bit tonight. Um the city can also make a determination of conformance with a general plan. This would be under the planning commission's jurisdiction and this is a ter determination of whether a project is consistent with the city's general plan. However, it's advis an an advisory decision only and is not binding on the project in one way or the other. Um so that concludes my brief presentation on the ISM and D. I'm uh happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you. Alexis, who would like to start with questions? Okay, I will. Unless Vice Mayor, did you have I did have a couple questions. Okay. I wanted to ask um I'm sorry for the Oh gosh. Um sorry, I kind of got thrown off. I didn't think I was going to go so soon. Would you rather I started?

Yes, please. Okay, I will do that. Thank you. Um, there's there's so many questions and I'm trying to condense a little bit and and trying to keep things focused on specifically responses and questions that can be included in our letter. Um, but it's hard because there are a lot of questions here and I think one of the main ones is um just for the for the sake of public clarification, the county is considering this process to be a fully transparent and engaged with the community process. Correct. Um I I haven't asked them directly if that's how they consider it, but they made a presentation here last week and I think they implied that they had conducted community engagement.

Okay. Um, and I'm also wondering, I know we asked our city manager to to follow up and see if we could get a town hall. Did you hear anything on that? Not at this time, ma'am.

Okay. Thank you. So, what I'm hearing is that they they came and made a presentation here uh during which the public was not really allowed to engage and ask questions and are not willing to do a town hall. The engagement that happened through this process and our agenda item meant that we told people how they could submit a comment through us or to directly to the county, but there was really no literally no engagement, no time for the public to ask actual questions live and get answers. Correct. Okay. Um, and I think that's it's important to point that out. That's not our process. That's the county's process. I just want to make sure people understand that. Um, and I have a problem with it because I I do think what what I'm hearing from the community is a lot of questions that are not answered. I mean, I I will say I spent a lot of time going through the 1860 pages of this report. Um, and it was exhausting. So, I don't know that the general public is going to do the same. But, I'll start with some of the the more basic questions to see if we can kind of um bring people into the discussion. There was a um just a clarification on the 85% measurement of the contraosta VMT. So uh at one point I heard there was a 75th percent another point I heard an 85th. So could you explain what that looks like?

Sure. And I'll defer to Allan on um how the VMT works. Um but it's basically um our service population and how um it will travel to and from this project. And then um Alan maybe you can explain the percentiles. Uh there are different percentages out there as part of this uh the traffic impact analyses. There's like a 95% related to loss. U you know sorry I'm already I'm going to break in and ask that um that you explain the acronyms. Oh sorry. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh LOS is level of service. So that's the intersection analysis and it's how well it moves traffic through. So when new projects come forward uh part of the analysis that was included in the report was uh one of level of service. Uh it talked about spillover had percentages there. But to your question about VMT um from my my quick review of the VMT analysis was pretty consistent with what the city does as well uh to use similar guidelines and percentages that that we do as well.

Okay. Um and the and the purpose of this process is to to basically determine whether there are factors that are going to impact environmentally speaking and so any questions and responses that we come up to be included in that letter should reflect that and what else. So um in terms of the initial study mitigated ne negative declaration the process is that it's circulated for 20 days and the purpose is to receive public comment on that environmental document and that analysis. Um so that is what I was referring to with the notice of intent to adopt an ISM and D. So any comments that are submitted on uh in relationship to that particular document should in best practice be focused on the content of the document and the squa laws and analysis that's done. Um you can still pass on other comments on a project in other venues. Um, but typically best practices, a comment letter on this document focuses on the content of this document.

Thank you. Um, I I would really love to ask your opinion on some things, but I'm trying to to keep this a very um structured conversation at least when I'm uh asking my questions, but I in reading some of these um assumptions about impact uh for example to our police department, to our public works department, it it does not appear to me that the county reached out to speak with our staff in our departments to actually check the up-to-date at that moment potential impact. Can you confirm if that's true or not?

Yes. So, I haven't uh finished all 1800 pages, but in uh the segments that I have read, it does not appear that they've actually reached out to those departments that they've relied on um older documents but not spoken to our staff directly. Okay. Thank you. And so with that conclusion, can we potentially consider this to be inaccurate?

Potentially. um we would do our own review of the SQA document, see if the conclusions are um supported by the evidence. And so if they did not reach out to our staff directly, we could potentially conclude that no, their conclusions aren't supported by evidence because they don't have the latest information that we can tell from what they presented in their document. Thank you. Um Alan, I think this next question is for you. It's around modifications and the the part of the report that says access points, modifications to the circulation system, um utility connections, etc. within the public rightway would be constructed to comply with city standards. Can you explain what that means, please?

So, mayor, may I just engage just for a second, please? Because because I want to make sure that when the when the council and the mayor ask a question, how are we going to format that in the response? So, the mayor's last question regarding the um lack of checking with staff.

So, I can certainly expand on the process of responding to the ISMD and um how staff what kind of lens we look at and um how we can forward any comments that may come from or questions or clarification points tonight. So, um, the example that you just provided about not reaching out to staff directly is a typical comment that we would, you know, when we look at these documents, we're looking at, um, do they show their work? Is their conclusion supported by the evidence? And so, we're going to use that lens throughout our review of the document. Okay? So, um, that is a fair point. They're not showing their work. they don't they're it's a no no in SQA terms to just uh assert a fact without any supporting evidence. Right? So, um those are the types of comments that we would put throughout our letter and we certainly hear any questions that council has tonight about specifics on the document that we can't clarify or we um might not have noticed in our review. We're certainly going to include and we can pass on to the county as part of our comment letter. Um, our comment letter is not due until February 23rd. So, if council wants to take time and and review and has questions, they can certainly forward them to staff and we can include them. We'll probably submit our letter at the very end of the day on the 23rd. You know, that's typical. So, um, there's time if there's more questions or points of clarification that we need on the document, we can certainly include that in our letter. And so, mayor, the reason why the reason why I interjected there because I want to make sure that that this is not just a conversation and that we're capturing what you're saying at the end. So, you don't have to go back and say, "Well, what what are we doing?" So, if you have a if you have a question like that last one, a staff's going to make sure that we we we we report back to the county saying, "We don't believe you've included this information. We need you to elaborate on that." So, I just want to make sure as we move

through the conversation that we're capturing that so we don't have to go back and and look at the record later on.

Thank you, Harold. I think that's a really good point. Um, and I think it's it's it's good for us to be really clear in our discussion today about these points being included in the letter. So, I appreciate you saying that so we can make sure that anything that we're talking about that seems like it is a good fit for being added can then be included in it. Um, I do want to mention too, there was the the section about the bus schedules for example and when we're talking about the fact that the county did not reach out to staff, they didn't reach out to Tri Delta Transit either because the bus schedules all changed last August and this report does not reflect those changes. Um, one of the county supervisors is actually or two on the on the Tri Delta Transit board, but this report does not reflect the fact that those bus schedules change and that information does impact a lot of this report. So, I I just think it's really important for us to talk about that um and to make sure that's really kind of forward in our letter. Um I also wanted to ask in in kind of reading the document and and doing some side research. Um, I was a little confused and Alan and I appreciated you answered, but I also wanted to ask this so everyone could hear the answer that it appeared that they the county was using the Bay Area regional BMT number as a vehicle vehicle miles traveled number as opposed to the Contracasta County specific number.

Thank you, mayor. Uh, yes, we had a previous discussion about that. uh and looking at re looking at the document. Yes, it it alludes to the Bay Area VMT number which is kind of a large regional number that the analysis looks at and compares the project to and how it affects it. Uh there's a more specific thing called sorry for the acronym it's TAZ but it is more um regional specific and that number as well. uh the project looks at I mean it the project's VMT is compared to the TAZ um number as well. So there's two numbers in the VMT analysis. Um it's I know it's very confusing. It's really hard to understand but as far as what when I reooked at the analysis that they did the VMT the way they did their analysis is consistent with CCTA's methodologies and what we do in Brentwood as well. Thank you. And I and I appreciate the explanation. Although I will say it just again just speaks to the fact that this document is not in my opinion thoroughly thought through and prepared in a way that is that you know a A leads to B leads to C leads to D. I feel like B and C are missing. Um there's I feel like the conclusions that are in this document are not necessarily backed by any sort of research or data. So thank you for answering that. Um I'm going to double check a couple more things. Oh, actually, um, there was a huge section on public service, and again, I'm I don't feel necessarily comfortable that I think our levels of service we have available at this point through police and fire would be sufficient, but again, I'm not sure that it's addressed really sufficiently within the document. I will say, um, I was curious about the threetory height because typically our high highest building is 40 feet, correct, for a three-story building within the city limits. And we have a ladder truck that at this point um I don't know if it can be if it can go safely beyond 40 feet. Do you have any idea or that would be another question

for the county? Um that would be a question for the county. There are other buildings in East County that are taller than that that the fire district serves. You know, there's four and fivetory buildings in other jurisdictions that are served by the county. So, um and they have proposed to bring a ladder truck to Brentwood at some point in the future. Um, but that would be an operational question for the fire district. Okay. Which I think is a fair question, too. Um,

I think I'm going to let someone else go while I just make sure I've covered everything I need to cover. I can go next. I'm ready, Madam Mayor. I was thinking I'm sorry. Who's ready? Um, can I share my screen? I thought you were going let me go and then you went. So, I would like to go next if possible. Okay. Go ahead. Madame Vice Mayor, may I just ask very quickly, we're getting kind of far away from clarifying questions. I don't know that we have a lot of public speakers here, but did you want to take care of public comments so that you heard from folks because this is really getting very detailed. Um, I think it would depend on whether the vice mayor and council member Mendoza have specific questions or discuss. I'll I'll start when we go into into this conversation. Vice Mayor, I would just like the opportunity to ask a question, which is our protocol. So,

yeah, absolutely. Um, I did want to ask when will the council see the draft comment letter before submitted? I know Alexis, you had Director Morris, you had just talked about that the letter was due February 23rd and that uh council can comment, but I would like to know when we see a draft of the letter. Uh, so I'll defer to the city manager on that because we are on such an aggressive timeline and we don't have another council meeting before the 23rd that we could receive direction. The thought was staff would be preparing the level the letter at staff level.

Yes. So yes, vice mayor and council um we would certainly provide the council with a copy of the letter before we mail it. But to to indicate that it's it's going to be a draft letter is would not be correct. the letter that we would be sending would be the final letter to the to the county unless we have a special meeting for the for the council to come together and and make comments on the draft letter that we would be proposing at the time. But at the at the current rate, there isn't uh an opportunity for us to come back to the body with a draft version and then and then move it forward.

Can I piggyback a question on that and this might help us vice mayor? So, if we get the draft letter and we're miss and we feel like there's stuff missing, can we send an we can send our own amendment amended letter to the county. Correct. So, like if we like for some reason you forget about asking police and we're like, "Wait, she missed police." And I'm not saying you're going to forget that part, but um we can send in our own letter anytime. Yes. So, um what we would send council because of the schedule is a final letter. And if there are points in there that we didn't make or you feel differently about or you want to add to, um, remember we might be sending our letter towards the end of the day on the 23rd so we could send it to council perhaps the day before that so you can prepare and submit your comments in a timely manner. Does that sound okay?

Thank you. And then I had another question. Um, I did want to ask this is directed to our city manager. At one point during a conversation with the county, the city manager, I I appreciate it, asks to create a formal engagement strategy letter um between the county and the city, there seemed to be a little bit of resistance on the behalf of the county. Um has that progressed um and this is from Mr. Duffy um at all or have they responded back to you regarding this uh letter? I thought it was a great idea. I did send them a letter and they responded back saying thank you, but no thank you. they were not interested in establishing an MOU to weigh in on factors of that that nature.

Okay. Um thank you. Um and then the last question is has staff retained or considered independent independent environmental or traffic review to ensure the city's um interests are fully protected. And that's the last question for me and I'll leave the rest for public me for uh after public comments for discussion.

Uh thank you vice mayor. No, we have not um pursued outside reviewers. Um we haven't had a budget set aside for that. And um given the level of analysis and the type of technical studies that are attached, uh staff is fairly experienced in reviewing these type, you know, the traffic study, the biological report, the air quality, um and those types of reports. So, no, we haven't consulted with or contracted with an outside reviewer. Thank you, Director Morris.

I actually have one final question before we move into public comment. Um, and this is regarding any kind of public notice and and this is just basically to have a public confirmation of this process because um, for example, Silvergate Apartments is very very close to this site and may not in the long term experience a lot of impact although I think the traffic will be a problem but especially during construction will definitely. So there just if you could confirm is was there any requirement whatsoever to let Silvergate know that there is a an open public comment period?

Um so SQA does not require you to notice individual property owners about the about the availability of these environmental documents. You're required to publish it in a paper of record posted at the county recorders clerk's office. Um but individual notification similar to our public hearing notices is not required under SQA. That doesn't mean you can't elect to do it. Um but it's as far as I understand from the county has not been done. Okay. And I think that's one more reason the town hall was kind of a suggestion. Okay. Um no more questions. We can move into public comment.

At this time the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card with the city clerk. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. We did receive two written public comments in advance of this item which are summarized on the screen. I have one speaker card in person. Sue. I'm speaking on this service center with many residents that I don't think really know much about it. Um I for one find many discrepancies in the traffic impact of having 400 plus employees at the location with the impact report only looking at the method of vehicles vehicle miles traveled and address which addresses emissions from vehicles versus the former method used level of service which measures congestion delays intersection capacity and motorist convenience. Even though the requirements only address VMT measurements, it is essential that all traffic issues in the city should be be addressed and address motorist convenience. This is why we have so many unplanned points of congestion throughout the city that are now difficult to deal with after the fact and I think we all know where many of them are. Second, um based on the comments from residents about this project, it seems that they are mixed. As with any project, there are pros and cons. So, it would seem that the county would want to be good partners with the city and be courteous enough to provide a live forum for there to be an exchange for all sides to ask questions and present their opinions. If the county thinks this is such a good idea, why wouldn't they want to come come out and say why and address some of the mitigations they present in the report

on um such as a town hall. Um mitigation points brought up in the document are remote workers, public transit, etc. Yet, we hear about BART's proposed cutting of the Antioch station. The project quotes that east county, east contraalistic county is one of the fastest growing regions in the county. This greatly affects the city of Brentwood and its service provided such as the fact that this project is under the protection of the Brentwood Police Department. Ignoring the residents by not being willing to have an open and honest live discussion is not a good move for partnership. The speaker's timer has expired. I have no additional cards in person. I do have hands raised in Zoom. Danny, go ahead.

So, where have I heard this story before? H the big butt ugly brown firehouse. You expect the and I mean you the audience. You expect them to play fair. You expect them to be good neighbors. I honestly I wish I could find the words to get people here so upset that they will finally say enough is enough. Diane Burgess. We almost had our way with the firehouse. Almost. Even though it the whole coordination between uh the little munchkin and um the fire district and all the other backroom elites. Uh we almost made it. We have lessons learned. Um, but if if anyone is expecting them to come to us at a town hall, p not going to happen. If we expect anything, you know, like paperwork in on time or slow walking it, that that is her modus operandi. And so we need to we need to pull together. And I'm not talking about the six, seven, eight people that always come to these meetings. It's got to be your neighbors. It's got to be, you know, uh um everybody because that's the only way you get her attention. I know that from experience being one of the few but vocal uh with the vets. We got her attention. They had to pull all the stops. And it boiled down to two people who have been told or have been alleged to

be in her pocket. But we almost got it. The speaker's timer has expired. The next speaker is Tracy. Tracy, go ahead.

Okay. Hi. Yes. My name is Tracy Kasamoto and I'm listening to this woman not being able to answer questions or say nobody's reached out. It's stunning, but it's not surprising. And as for Diane Burgess, she'd just ignore you. And anyway, don't get me started on her. But anyway, I find it ironic that the county is willing to cut costs moving this project forward without getting an EPA study. that's what they're cutting cost on or they're hiding something and not willing to cut costs when it comes to their spending elsewhere. I completely object to the unserious way which they're proceeding. I object to the process of circumventing any full environmental study. I object to the project be beginning based on simply an initial study with the quote unquote promise to mitigate. the fact that they would rather make promises to mitigate versus showing seriousness and concern by getting a full Environmental Protection Agency review and assessment tells me a lot. I don't trust anyone who is trying to bypass a very important study when developing a huge complex in my community. As a matter of fact, they're even they're trying to cut costs already and the project hasn't even begun. So, can you imagine what costs they're going to cut and what shortcuts they're going to make that could affect this project when no one's looking? Also, too, just to say, I want to go on about Burgess, but I can't. But, as a side note, do you really think that the bulldozer is going to quit when they see one of one of two of these endangered species? Do you really think they're going to stop? No, they're not going to stop. Anyway, I'm mad about this and

can't believe the report and that no answers to anything. Anyway, that's it. The next speaker is Stephanie. Stephanie, go ahead. Hello. Good evening. Can you hear me? Yes, I can.

Okay. Hello, mayor and council members. It's me, Stephanie Williams Rogers again, and I'm speaking on this agenda item tonight as a concerned Brentwood resident. I want to express my disappointment regarding the county's approach to community engagement around the proposed new county building in our city. uh presenting during the last council meeting and releasing nearly 1,800 pages of documentation without hosting a public forum does not constitute meaningful engagement. Most working families, seniors, and small business owners in Brentwood do not have the ability to comb through that volume of information on their own. When decisions of this magnitude are being considered, decisions that impact traffic, infrastructure, public safety, and the character of our community, residents deserve more than a document dump. We deserve a conversation. So, I'll just end with saying community trust is built through dialogue, not just disclosure. And shame on the county for not meaningfully engaging with Brentwood residents. Thank you. The next speaker is Cindiana. Cyniana, go ahead. Good evening again. I hate to disappoint the council and the branded residents listening or the ones paying attention. This is a done deal. The pet project of Diane Burges will happen because not because of her. is because there is no political will from our local representative. At least the three of you and you know who you are. Our district 2 representative as well as Pattonisha as well as FA

claimed they had conversations with Diane Burgess. Obviously not very productive. We haven't heard any results of it or any input or anything that will benefit or be in favor of our city. We don't know what was discussed and all I can think of is that Diane summoned both of you to dictate to not show opposition and vote for this project similar as they did with the she did with the firehouse downtown. And Tony, it's in the bag. I I expect him to raise his hand and say yes ma'am. I want to mention that our roads San Creek in particular will be a disaster supporting at least 800 car trips a day for from the employees coming to the center. It took me today three at 300 p.m. 20 minutes to travel 1.8 miles from Highway 4 to San Creek and O'Hara intersection. I'm proposing to impose fees on the county for the use and maintenance of our roads. I know that county imposes fees on anyone or any business that builds or develops anything on county land. No council meeting until the end of comment period due to the county. This is a situation when you actually should have a special council meeting. I ask you

the speaker's time has expired. I have no additional hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. Moving into discussion. Uh I'm aware Council Member Mendoza.

Yes. And and um you see this. Okay. So, you guys know how I think. I have to put it on a presentation because if not, I can't get my um my thoughts. And I think that we need to probably show the public exactly what we're talking about. And this is Brentwood Boulevard and Technology Way with S Creek on the north. This consists of two different um areas, PD42 and the Brentwood Boulevard specific plan. When we look at the Brentwood specific plan, um PD42 was commercial uses. This is definitely something they could do in PD42 um without any question at all. Um my problem is the um portion to the south which was the Brentwood Boulevard specific plan. You know, we keep getting told by the state we got to build our housing. We got to build our housing. And Diane Bergus oh so much cares about housing. You know, she's zoning a bunch of reszoning a bunch of Discovery Bay, but when it comes to our affordable number, it doesn't seem like she cares because this area is supposed to have um 70% of gross acreage should be high density and it says that every area should have it. So, they are not allowing us to fill our commitment and they're actually not even following their own county guidelines. Sorry, I have to hide something on the bottom of my screen because I can't see that. Their their own county guidelines are at the bottom, too. So, um it's hypocritical of Diane to do this when she knows that Reena and the state is making us build housing and this is an area we set aside for housing. Um this is more on the um on the Brentwood the Brentwood Boulevard specific plan. So density shall be calculated based on the gross acreage of project and shall be within the specified range of the applicable land use. There is no mid-range density required and it should and these guidelines apply to all residential areas including those allowed in the COIR which this area is. Um and there's more information again this I had to do this really fast this weekend so it's not pretty and nice.

It's kind of just a lot of information but I think it's important that the public understand where this information lives. So, there's two areas. PD42 is the north area and the bottom area is the um Brentwood Boulevard specific plan. Um, one of my biggest concerns is parking. And I've mentioned this before and when parking gets crazy, people sometimes lose their minds. And um I've said it again, like I growing up in East Oakland, if you park somewhere and you take someone's space, you better be very careful because you never know what's going to happen to you or your vehicle. And in this case, I think we are far um under what they need. And they actually and they I don't understand how they're calculating the parking. So what I would like to ask staff to ask on this one is so where are their where are their um employees coming from? Because they have bike spaces, but do any of like how many of their residents live out here with bikes that are really going to use the bike spaces? Um of the 409, 40 of them are for fleet, so they're not even for regular parking. So there goes 40 um four of those spaces. They only show 79 spaces for visitors. So if we could also get a list of the average um where the average I don't know if we call them customers or clients come from that I think that would be important too. And that's for a couple reasons. Um because I don't think that they're going to come on public transit. I just I just don't think that's going to happen. And only 286 for staff. So the question is where do you expect the rest of your staff to park? Because there's not enough street space in that area for them to um to park. So even in their own county guidelines, it says this project will require 600 um office um 600 parking spaces. So they're way below even their own guidelines. Um this one is uh cultural resources. Well, it doesn't fit in this section. Um, I got a call from the businesses on Brentwood Boulevard, that the shops across where the Dollar General is, is that what it is? Dollar General, Taco Bell, all that area, the

smaller shops are going up now, they've already been told because this building is coming, their rent is going up $1,000 a month. The gym that was there is going to go up $4,000 a month. So Diane Bergus is single-handedly shutting down small family businesses. and not only small family businesses, but businesses of people of color. So, I think we need to put a comment in our in our report about that. The infuriating thing about that is we can we've seen this story before. We saw it in the mission in San Francisco. Representative Jackie Fielder just said that the gentrification, which is this is going to happen in Brentwood on Brentwood Boulevard. There will be gentrification. The gentrification has pushed out 9,000 Latinos in San Francisco. Brentwood Boulevard is the core of our Latino immigrant field worker that's been there forever. And this is disgusting. And Diane Bergus should be ashamed because what's going to happen is you're going to get 400 and something employees come in. These employees are probably going to be like, "Hey, maybe I should move closer to work." And you know what's going to happen with the property values in that area? They're going to go up and they're going to push out poorer people and people of color. So, I think we need to address gentrification and that needs to be analyzed in some way, shape or form. But the fact that we're already seeing a business close before a shoveled is even in the dirt is absolutely deplorable and she should be ashamed of herself. Um, you know, the housing accountability act, but I don't think they have to apply by it. So, they get a passcard because there's an opinion by um Bera when he was the AG that they don't have to do this. I would like to send a letter to Bera's office and asking him to define to actually elaborate on his opinion. Did in his opinion did he expect affordable housing to happen and did he expect gentrification to happen which I I I pretty I'm pretty sure he didn't but I would like to send a letter to his office as well. Um so here's the opinion on Bera. So yeah, they can kind of do what they want

to do, but they have to actually have an e I can think it's an EI or a SQL. I can't remember exactly which one. If we don't if they can't mitigate everything, and I again I don't think they can mitigate everything. Um, and do we know if they did an I couldn't find an infill environmental checklist. We got one of those when we got the fire station, but I couldn't find one for this. So do we know if they have the infill checklist? I couldn't find it in the 1900 or so pages. So, um, well, they're not claiming an infill exemption. Okay. So, there's a difference. So, they don't have to do it even though. No, it's not necessary because they did the mitigated negative declaration. They're not claiming to be exempt from that process.

Okay. But if we find that there's flaws in their m mitigated desk deck, we can ask for more information. I mean, I guess we as a city can say, "No, we're not going to give you your encroachment permit." You can then sue us and then we're going to go to court and go through all of these things in court. Right. That's a question for the city attorney. I'm not

No, but No, we can do it. Okay. So, noise um the noise is going to be high. I highlighted the project. So, the noise is going to be out of um out of our own Brentwood city guidelines. I think that needs to be addressed. Also, there is a school right across the street. I think we need their hours of operation, I think, need to be adjusted in line with those school hours, just like we did for the Vineyard Academy. I don't think they get a pass on this. I don't want children going in and out when there's work trucks going in and out. So, if we could work with the school and figure out what hours they're in um session, like when people are dropping off and picking up, I think that would be helpful, too. Um greenhouse emissions. We know there's going to be greenhouse emissions. I think we need a little bit more work and ask a little bit more questions. I'm not This goes back to the VMT. the VMT is supposed to reduce greenhouse emissions, but if we could find out where these 400 employees live because I think they're understating their VMT impact. So, I think we need an more in-depth analysis on the VMT because if most of their employees are living like in Martinez and you're driving out here and they reduced it like they only increased it by what 10% or something, that's poppycock. There's no way that's happening. And that's as much as I'm going to curse tonight. So, so if I can't, I just want to make sure that that we are able to capture your questions and put them back to to the to the council to the to the county. So, um there were a couple questions that that statements that you had that I want to make sure that um it seemed like we were going to be asking or trying to find out the information when when really we're going to be reporting back to the county saying we need this information or this information is lacking. So, I want to make sure that that we caught that right that that we are we're actually going to be posting the question back to the to the county

saying we we'd like to see this information. So, so we are not going to be chasing down the data. We're going to be asking them that your report did not include this data and we'd like to see it. Okay, that sounds great.

Um, so again, this goes back to the population, the housing. I think it is absolutely disgusting that I mean, I'm going to start calling her chief um architect of gentrification on Brentwood Boulevard because that's what Diane Bergus is at this point. um parks. I think their little park that they're doing is a little bit of a joke. I don't know if we can require any kind of parks, but um that's going to be a big big concrete space. So, if there's any way they could add more grass or something because it's going to get and especially in Brentwood where we try to reduce the amount of concrete and add more um green canopies. I feel like this goes against everything we are um you know in Brentwood. So, if we could do something around that. Um, can

I just can I mention too that there was a mention in the report of that being considered open space. Yeah. Not just park space, but open space. Yeah. And that concrete is not sufficient.

Um, so when it comes to the trips, I think we need more in they I would like for them to provide how they did the analysis like what data they used because I'm just not buying it. Um, I don't I don't think their trips are correct. So, when it comes to their employees, but I think they only have 79 spaces for visitors, but let's figure out how many they really get in a day because Sand Creek is going to be packed. And there's a couple of things with that. Um, I think Sinciana mentioned it. It's going to impact our roads. And then Allan, you're going to have to hear from people like, "Oh, the roads aren't nice." So, what exactly is that impact on the city? Like, how often are we now going to have to um replace that and fix them? And then how many like on average how many accidents is there per hundred cars? So how many times are we going to increase the call volume on our police department as well? So I think they need to answer those questions. They should be doing the analysis around that like because I think it's a bigger impact on the transportation. Um PM.2 concentrations. This one was a little concerning and I'm This one I totally don't understand. But the fact that you're saying yes to increased cancer risk in two different incidents during construction and one of them is to the students. How do you mitigate that? I I don't know how they're going to do that, but they need to address that. If I were a parent in that school, I would be up in arms um about that. And you know, the mayor mentioned letting the apartments know. I think we should let the school know as well because this is really scary. And I think they have the right to know that Diane Bergus is putting in a building that could cause cancer to their children. Um so this is the um the grading of the different intersections. I it's going to be horrible. We're going to go from on Brentwood Boulevard and Technology Way from a B to a D on Brentwood Boulevard to Sand Creek from a it's going to say D, but it does um the minutes do the seconds do go up. And then B to C on

Business Center Drive in San Creek. So, it we know it's not going to be great and and when we live it everywhere. Okay, let's talk about the bus stops. Um, as the mayor mentioned, they were using old bus information and um I think it's really cute that they put a bus stop. 222 miles when the guideline is 0.25 miles. That's convenient. Um, that so these are these are the bus stops in the area that they're going to go to. This is where um I'm concerned about the this is the schedule. You're supposed to have 20-minute intervals during peak times. And the peak times, hold on, I know I put it somewhere. Oh, maybe I didn't put it somewhere. Um, maybe I deleted it. Sorry. But their peak times and I'll get them again from um Tri Delta. It's kind of from like 6 to 9 in the morning and then in the afternoon. I can't remember the times, but I'll look them up. Oh, here they are. So 6:00 to 9 for Tri Delta and 3 to 7 in the afternoon for Tri Delta and then for um Calrans MPOS's and that is 7 to9 or 4 to 6. So they've already failed when it comes to the 20 minutes during peak times. So they can't unless they're going to change the bus routes they can't mitigate that right now. Um, when I look at VMT, this is on the I believe the Tri Delta page and this is what we are in that area today. We're at a VMT of 20.10 per worker because it's not residential. And then the goal for Brentwood in the 2040 plan according to the county is 19.11. So it's like we're not going to get any better if they do this. There's no way we're going to make our 2040 goal in that side of town. And then this is, you know, Ellen, you already talked about VMT, but I just put all the information here because I think it's hard for people to understand, but you know, again, your VMT is just bringing down all those greenhouse gases and we have to use the employee one. They're using um the the larger area. I

I mean, I don't know why we can't use Brentwood and why we can't insist on it because it is Brentwood that they're impacting. So I think that that should be a question too is we would like to change your VMT to the Brentwood number in their own reporting um that's available not you know it's not something we we made up. So um so yeah that was it on that and those are my questions. I just I am absolutely upset. Um I wouldn't mind it if we did it like over off of Highway 4 bypass. I think that'd be a great place for it. And the and PA1 or innovation center. I think that's exactly the type of building that we would be jumping up and down for. And you know, right near the freeway, the least amount of impact on our roads. Um, all concentrated. But it's just it's just it's just sad. So that's where I am right now. I do not want this building on that corner. Um, I I think that we should fight on this one. I just like I thought we should fight on the fire station. But, you know, I'm just one vote and that's why I tell people you got to count to three if you want something.

Vice Mayor,

thank you. Um, I want to clarify that I was not summoned to a meeting by Diane Burgess, but our former interim city manager set up meetings with the county as well as uh invited council member Maloney and as the representative in that district, several questions were asked. So since you know maybe some residents weren't paying attention last time I can clarify that again. During that meeting I asked about 10 questions. One of them was I asked about the number of jobs that were coming which are clarified in this report. They told me 441 approximately. I asked about any increase in traffic um of registered sex offenders near two public schools and actually three in the area or uh felons considering that we do have probation and some sheriff's office in that building coming and I was told um more about that about the protections that they have about security that they will have in the building. I asked about traffic and an entry from Brentwood Boulevard which is the one of the most concerning and I'll talk about that more. Initially in the first meeting I was told that they didn't foresee a entrance from Brentwood Boulevard but it appears that that has changed. Now we're seeing in the report that it will be a staff entrance on from Brentwood Boulevard. Um I asked about the environmental considerations about this this space. Um, and they talked more about the environmental considerations. And in addition, I asked, which I asked during a council meeting again for the public about what we're doing to reduce our carbon imprint and if we're going to have EV chargers. They talked about EV chargers and the solar panels that they plan to put over the area. I asked about the how they designed the exterior because the design did not match what our design element looks like as being a member of LUD. I asked them if they considered our design elements and it appeared that they had not I asked them

would they consider it. They um brought up during the meeting that while they didn't feel they needed to that they would consider it. So that was something and I believe they had a change um of the initial designs. Um I asked them if they had um compared this to our if they considered the downtown Brentwood specific plan. Um, there was a little bit of push back in that one that it was almost as if they didn't need to consider the downtown Brentwood specific plan because it was county owned land. I asked about how they would improve the infrastructure of the street. As everyone knows, we have um, Brenwood Boulevard needs a substantial amount of work for our streets, our sidewalks. And I've brought this up before about the beautifification and the lack of uh, plants and foilage down Brimma Boulevard. Um they informed me and showed vy pictures of um that they intend to put a bunch of greenery along the side of Brentwood Boulevard and would be doing some Brentwood Boulevard improvements to the sidewalk as well as the street. Um I asked about how they would support and improve u I'm sorry and then I asked about what type of services they would bring and at that time that is when they told me about they want to plan to have veteran services. They want to plan to have um possibly have healthc care services. Um, I was told that there is health care services provided already in the city of Burwood. They want to expand on that. And then they talked about joint use agreements and even talked about the potential of a um farmers market or some other type of usage for members of the community. So, this is what I'll say. Regional facilities like this one are important and I believe that the city would uh would be it would play a great role in the city, especially considering we talked about jobs and the fact that we don't want to reduce jobs. This one is bringing 441 jobs. I even asked about the potential for the quality of job. Um what type of range and I was told a med median range of income and higher.

However, at the same time as an elected official um it is my responsibility all of our responsibility to ensure that the infrastructure, the traffic flow, public safety and the quality of life of our residents is considered. This is the big most biggest consideration that I have given the scale of this project and its long-term impact on Brentwood. I really want to ensure and make sure that the uh environmental review is comprehensive and defensible. Here are some of the concerns that came up for me even in our meetings. Traffic modeling. The main issue I have is the traffic from Brentwood Boulevard. If you've been on Burwood Boulevard during school hours, any time of the day, this was our major highway. And I am concerned about the traffic. I'm also concerned about the intersection improvements. Um, they're not really clear in what we've seen about any improvements to the intersection. Um, you have traffic flowing on to one side to towards Dollar General, which again, I'm concerned about something over there, which I'll bring up in a second. Um, the emergency response impact. I don't think we got any emergency response impact studies and we without us having our fifth fifth beat I'm I'm not certain that we've gotten what we need back. And so these are the things that I would like to have brought up in the letter. The traffic modeling what the full a full detail of the intersection improvements to be clear. Emergency response impact studies done by them not us. um and how much more of our police staff and attention will will need to go to a building of this size and magnitude in addition to the type of population that will be going to this building. I asked will there be increased sheriffs there to deal with any additional um um and I don't I don't feel like I had a good response back. the construction impacts. I think the mayor brought up a really good um thoughtfulness about not only do we need to bring up and and uh council

member Mendoza about not only do we need to let the school know, but also the residents nearby and I'm going to even say the residents right behind in the Village Drive community who may have some impacts from the the sound pollution as well as dust pollution from construction. I'm not trying to fight that. We do need to bring more jobs and we can bring them to District 2. There's no problem with that. But I think we need to also talk about parking overflow. I think that's going to be a big deal. We have 441 potential employees. We're not even talking about the general public for multiple departments. I would like and I've I will continue to bring this up. Um, she may say that I she doesn't agree with me on this one, but I I've brought it up on fire that I feel like the county needs to have a public forum to have these discussions at. I think that that will alleviate people's concern. We can ask the questions. I know we don't. is very clear and I would prefer I really really appreciate and it was uncomfortable the push back that he got but I I really appreciate some type of engagement between the county and the city just to show that we're partners. No engagement looks like we're not there's no partnership and I would like to see us be strategic partners in doing things that benefit the residents of our city of our county and east county. if this is truly for them, then we should hear from them. It's important. Um, I advocate for traffic mitigation and economic opportunities for our local businesses. I really advocate for that. Um, and then the last thing that I will say is um because I think it's it's important and I have it here. Hold on a second because I wrote a whole bunch of notes on this one. Um, I would like for us in the letter to review how if there is I would like for

it to come back just to the planning commission even though it's just advisory for the review of the general plan consistency to make advisory se suggestions. I don't see how that would be a problem. I mean, I know we don't we are we we may feel empowered because it is their land, but I would like for us to look at the consistencies and inconsistencies and see if people do the right thing when they find out from from our planning commission. Um, but I again want to maintain that my focus is on traffic and infrastructure, public safety, um, and economic opportunities. This, this could bring about some economic opportunities. This was what I was going to bring up. I am very disturbed and a little let down if the new owner of the property that has the Dollar General is trying to eliminate a business that provides services to people who cannot afford to go across town to Costco or who cannot afford. I've been in that I I because Target is a very racist organization and has eliminated their their DEI. I shop in the Dollar General on a regular basis. The people in the store know me when I walk in. They don't know me as the vice mayor. They know me as the lady that sometimes buys people in the Village Drive community milk. I have bought milk twice in there. I have bought diapers in that store for people. I am positioning an organization that is on uh March the 28th going to be in front from 8 to 12 giving out gift cards because we have a community of people who cannot afford to even buy the basic necessities. I have heard from people even on our staff who have called me, and I'm not

attacking our staff because we have amazing staff, but one of the members of our staff called me to talk about still trying to put something and remove a business from that location that serves a disenfranchised, lowincome population. And I'm disturbed by that. I am disturbed that the new owner is using this opportunity for economic gain, which I get it. We're in a society where the dollar makes a lot. But I am disturbed and I will tell you that that gym is is being affected. Their rent, they're basically trying to ou them so they can bring a new organization in there that's all about health wellness. So let's not allow this situation to overshadow the negative. I'm hoping that the county hears this. I'm hoping that there are and I know the county can only control what it can control, but hopefully the conversation and the dialogue will bring about a partnership in which we can figure out what is best for Brentwood because just putting a different big brand, a big box brand doesn't serve the people in the village drive, the people that elected me, that doesn't serve them. It doesn't serve the business owners who came thinking that this was a great place for them. It doesn't serve them. So, I'll get off my soap box because I wholeheartedly think we have a bigger problem here. Not about this coming. It's 441 jobs, which we keep saying we want. And I'm not being emotional about who we like or we don't like. I'm more concerned about how do we work cohesively to make sure one the safety is in place, the traffic is appropriate, our children are safe, but also that we still provide services for all the members of our community, not just for some of them.

I and I think we've all said that we all want the jobs. I don't think any of us say no to the building. I think it's the location of the building that is um that is is inappropriate. And I think that Diane does need to come out to Brentwood Boulevard. I know she doesn't. Um she's never been to a Day of the Dead festival. She I never see her out there, but it it would be nice if she if she came out and actually met the people that are going to be impacted by this because it's going to be a big deal and it's going to be the mission all over again. It's going to be Oakland all over again. And it's it's very very disheartening that we're being told we can't do anything about it. It's like we gotta, you know, just be okay with her gentrifying and kicking people out.

So, I'm gonna I'm gonna close this up um by saying it it's pretty clear we're all saying very similar things. We all have uh very similar concerns. There's Yeah, go ahead.

Okay. Um we'll move into uh Council Member Maloney when I'm done. Uh, and so I'm hoping that you've been able to collect a lot of notes and being able to uh potentially compile them into the letter with with some good impact. Clearly, they haven't done their research and they don't have a clear understanding of what the actual impacts will be. Absolutely want jobs. I think 150 of them were transfers from another, if I recall, uh, another facility. And then, of course, the resources too. I mean, we haven't really talked as much about that, but some of these resources are something that East County has been like a desert for and not had access to at all. I I wish this I mean, I know this is like a fantasy statement. I would like for this building to be able to buy J C Penney. I think it would be, you know, right right in the middle of all the cities, right off the freeway, no residential homes like right close by. can't have what we always want. But we also it is our duty to try and again mitigate uh the impacts to the extent that we can if there's whatever we can do to try and make this project a little bit more feasible for the area, less impactful on people that are whose lives are going to change um based on higher rents or you know those kinds of things, closures of stores that they rely on. So I think it's a pretty clear message what um we're all asking about. We definitely want better community engagement. Um, we want our residents to be able to ask questions and learn about this project kind of face to face so that there's engagement, not just speaking at them, but with them. Um, so I'm going to go ahead and let council member Maloney uh speak and then we will move on to the next item.

I think this is more a question for the city manager. From an economic development perspective, is there any type of repercussions or any type of policies we can put in place to stop gentrification from happening on Brentwood Boulevard or is this something that we need to discuss at a different time? because we are going to have a lot of businesses come and if this is something that's going to be happening wherever big businesses come like we need to have some sort of incentives for the businesses that do own those shopping complexes not to be kicking you know small businesses and local businesses out

I I think we really should have that larger conversation about how we can when we are especially when we are assisting in that economic development that we have some triggers in place to ensure that the local small businesses are protected and allowed to grow to grow in place. Most most definitely we don't want to be a catalyst in in gentrification. Thank you.

Okay. Um I believe we can now move into the next item. I have to say thank you staff for um the thoroughly thoroughly work working through this to try and find places where we could you know ask questions, push back and make statements whatever it is. So I know this is a lot um and I appreciate the time that you've invested in it. Thank you. Okay. Um I'm going to move intoformationals at this point and I as as you've seen I've been Oh have we finished that item? I thought we had no Okay. I I just want to make sure that that they captured everything.

Yeah. That we really kind of look at uh the expectations. So, for example, um, uh, director Morris will be pulling together comments on the SQUA document and where there are comments that are not SQA related, she should be able to separate those out and see if we've captured those and the council can see those and you could add to those if that's if that's the case. So, so, so, so, Alexis, you might want to

Yeah. So what I'm envisioning is a letter that's organized by topic, right? So there's just general comments on the nature of the project. There will be comments on the squid document, you know, questions, uh, clarification items or, um, you know, on the on the content of the SQA document. And then there will be, um, probably just passing along, um, you know, the need for more public engagement and that. So, it'll be organized sort of by topic so they can focus on squa um, you know, and to manage expectations. we can ask for things and we can request things and we can hope for things but um that's no guarantee that they will be responsive

but it's also very important in this process that we build a record and so that's really important that we we put those comments down and we and we build that record. Thank you for that. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Is it possible to request officially a town hall meeting like from your office? He has I can I can certainly send another letter. Absolutely. That's fine. This is what we asked last time too though, like for you to reach back out and ask for it, right? They'll consider it. Initially, they said we'll consider it and then we said at the end of the meeting, can you push but a little harder and he did reach out and they did respond. That was so I will take this to the next level and talk directly with the CEO request. I appreciate that.

Thank you. Yes. I think also we keep saying Diane and I also think a letter should go to Monica Nino who is the county administrator. So I think that is important to know Eric Ang came before but over him is Monica Nino and I think it is very important that the county administrator receives a letter um formally requested from the council that a town hall is done in our city. Yeah, I know. Thank you. I know Harold has direct contact information for her and of course there's a different um address within the report to send any comments to. So I'm guessing the copies will go across the board to everyone mentioned.

Yeah, we'll send we'll send the official SQA documents for the record to the address that they requested and then we can copy all kinds of people on that letter. Perfect. Thank you. All of the board of supervisors.

Yeah, the whole board of supervisors would be good. Okay, we're going to move intoformationals and um as I mentioned I I've been moving this to the end of the meeting consistently because uh public comments have been significant and so I think it's fair of best to kind of move all of these things to the very end so that we can make sure public comments um and you know the business items happen first. So um we will start with council member Orleman's. uh since the last council meeting on the 27th, uh a meeting with the veterans uh fire and the intram's uh assistant city manager Carrie Breen regarding the parking during the construction at the fire station. Really productive meeting uh that was extremely short, but it gave the vets and the uh fire the opportunity to begin exchanging numbers and ways to contact each other. uh and and our ability to kind of step back and and watch and make sure it's still happening, but a very productive meeting. Um uh monthly meeting with the city manager, Harold Duffy, uh a PAL board meeting. I do want to mention, I mentioned it last time, but again, the crab feed tickets are on sale for the March 14th uh PAL crab feed at the Tri Delta Transit meeting. uh agenda review, a meeting with Chief O'Rnik, and then um I think it was yesterday I did a tour of the Antioch desalinization plant that they just put in um with Casey and Carrie. Uh great tour. uh amazing uh building. Amazing that they can pull all that water, that salt out

of the water and then put it back out and make it drinking water. Um it's incredible. Uh and how they carved out the whole side of the mountain to make that happen as opposed to making the the footprint of the of the plant much larger. So that concludes what? Council member Maloney.

Um, since we last met, I attended a meeting at Supervisor Burgess's office along with residents from my neighborhood to discuss the neighbors concerns regarding the county youth center. Some neighbors did request to meet with her personally and she ended up conducting the meeting in her office. And I am very appreciative for all of our neighbors that have engaged in this process as well. And I'm grateful that the supervisor has given them a space to actually uh be heard. I've also visited downtown businesses and I listened to some of their concerns revolving around the couple of unhoused individuals that continue to cause some vagrancy issues in our downtown. I also attended the fourth annual Black History Month oracle. And what a great event it was. Great performances all around and special shout out to the singer of What a Wonderful World by Lewis Armstrong. That boy was amazing. Um he's he had an awesome voice. He made me cry. Um I also spoke with residents from the Highline neighbor from the Highland neighborhood who continue to experience vagrant and criminal behaviors on their street. I can't wait till um the social nuisance ordinance comes back to us so we can at least have some sort of uh forethought into what's going on in their neighborhoods. And then last, I was actually asked to meet by the family of Yolanda Ramirez. And I did meet with a couple of their family members. I expressed my condolences, acknowledged their difficult circumstances, and out of respect, they understood that I could not discuss any type of the legal process with them and they knew that. I listened carefully. At the end of the day, we are a small community, and we are neighbors who will continue to interact with one another, and I am fully committed to professionalism, respect in my community.

Vice Mayor Um, I attended the DBC crab feed. Um, I met with the DBC executive director Chris Dominguez separately. I attended the fourth annual Black History Month ortorial event and I attended John Elum's memorial service. Council member Mendoza.

Hello. Um, since last time we met, I see I attended a Zoom with the Bureau of Land Management for Oil and Gas and um just reiterated our opposition as a city and my own personal opposition. Attended meeting with um somerset residents at Willies. Um attended I this weekend was the this time was the Dolphins crab feed. The DBC was last time I think last meeting city council meeting. um attended the ortorial um for it's like Adams and Pioneer and Edna and it's so many schools and they hosted at Liberty. So that was great. Um a meeting with a tril trilogy club called the WOW group. So met with them, attended the mayor's conference and also um our condolences to John to John Elum's family attended the memorial for that and um he was very active in the community. We appreciate all of his volunteerism here and around the bay. Since our last meeting, I attended the Triela Transit Board meeting. Um, I did a ride along on point in time day with the Brentwood Police Department. Um, thank you especially to Sergeant Manau, community services officer Stanley and community engagement officer Bolinger, who gave me a a a really intensive and comprehensive tour of the sites where um volunteers were not able to go. Volunteers for a point in time count um stay in the car. So, we were able to get out of the car and and walk under overpasses, that kind of thing to get a real sense of what the reality is for our homeless population within uh Brentwood. Uh very educational. Um those numbers were not they're not out yet. Uh they looked very low, but I think the the reality is a point in time count is basically just a comparison one year after the other isn't necessarily a reflection of the actual numbers of unhoused people in our city. Um, I also attended the Bureau of Land Management virtual town hall and made comments

about the oil and glas leasing and development. Uh, did an interview uh video and interview podcast with Mom's Building Community and tomorrow's table talk and I believe they're going to interview the city manager next. Attended the uh Brentwood Union School District Brentwood Black History Month ortorial event. um a planning meeting with Trilogy's women of wisdom group for an April presentation. I met with um Harvest Time representatives and staff uh to kind of bring Harold being new to this conversation into um the latest information about the innovation center. um attended the mayor's conference and a presentation from the food bank, the grand opening of Namaste Plaza, South Indian Market, and pending restaurant. The restaurant's not open yet. Um the Delta 6 quarterly meeting with all four East County cities and the county supervisors. Uh it was interesting. There was a lot of discussion around um regional tourism, the uh tourism that was brought up at the uh the last meeting. We talked about response to ICE because the um San Francisco uh immigrant center is going to be moving to conquered so there's a lot of concern about increased presence of ICE and and the need to really be um proactive and thoughtful in planning for that. Um we we tried to hold the aging and disabilities friendly community committee meeting last night and I only mention it because if anybody planned to tune in or come it didn't happen. we had tech problems and staff worked really hard to to try and bring everything back up, but we finally determined that we needed to cancel it. So, that will be rescheduled. Please look for that. Um, and I I watched the board of supervisors annual board retreat meeting that was held in Antioch to try and get a little bit more understanding of uh the project we discussed tonight and others. And Harold, did you have anything you wanted to add?

Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Uh since we last met, I uh actually I'll start from the bottom and work my way up. I met with uh staff and um vice mayor on the Junth planning process. I've also had several meetings with the CIP project team. Very enlightening across the board. I had a meeting with Rabbi Goldmid along with uh the police chief. That was a very productive meeting. We talked about the holiday season and often what happens during the holiday season. So we're hopefully going to start a campaign of allowing people to worship and be safe during the holiday season. I also met with the mayor with the a meeting to discuss the a innovation center. Um also got a chance to tour the San Creek Sports Complex. It's moving quite was moving along quite well. Um, today is my 101 day here at the city of Brentwood and I presented the council with the top 10 list of 100 100 potential projects for us to be working on in the future. Uh, we had interviews for the assistant city manager. We had 118 applications to start out with, whittleled it down to about nine nine individuals. Uh, got some really good responses back. Um, I also want to let the council know that we have a public information team. We call it the pit. We meet every Monday and we talk about what was released last week and what we're releasing this week in terms of public information. Um, also, uh, to end the note that the mayor and I did meet this week with the Delta 6, and one of our conversations was about a tourism and really kind of seeing if the entire Delta 6 wanted to work with us on being able to spin off some um, tourism from the major events like FIFA and and the Super Bowl.

Thank you. This now moving into the um, new agenda item request. if you have anything.

Yeah, I just I think we need to talk about autonomous vehicles in Brentwood. So, I'd like to bring a conversation about just autonomous vehicles in general. So, the Whimos, the Door Dash, the Uber Eats, all of those kinds of things. I think we need to um have like discuss it. Is it something we want in our town? Is it something we don't want? And then bring the public in to also have those opinions because I I also don't think it's fair. You know, I get pretty passionate, but you know, you guys are working on something, but you don't know how we feel about it. So, I think that maybe getting at the beginning of things about how we feel about it might save staff time. If it's something like council doesn't really want this and you spend two years working on something, then we're like, we don't want it. So, I think it's important we talk about that before we get any further.

Harold, your lights on. I wasn't sure. Um, is that request clear to Do you have a second? If not, I'll second it. That's right. Yeah. So I mean for this process we don't need the second. It will come back on the next agenda for discussion and then direction to staff at that point. Perfect. Thank you Amanda. Okay. Um any other any comments anywhere else? Okay. Moving into item J1. This is a request from myself and council member Mendoza regarding content standards for the city's website and the veteran Brentwood website pages and the use of press releases. Did you want to start?

Yeah. Um, we've always been pretty strict about our city website is city business and we did have one restaurant posted and at that time I spoke to the interimm city manager and we did say no more businesses on the city page. That's why we pay better in Brentwood. So I think we'd have clear direction for staff. Um, even this week with the Door Dash being like the Door Dash is on an agenda. I'm not necessarily sure why we did a second post on it. Um, but I think because it almost felt like you guys were like not you guys, but the post was whipping boats to like make that popular where I think if it's going to be an agenda, let it come to the agenda. Let us have an opinion. Like we could communicate that it's happening, which is what we do. But I think that that post was um definitely had a position and that made me uncomfortable before it came to council. So, I would like our city page to be the resource for city business and the better and Brentwood page to be the business fun that kind of page.

And you're talking about social media pages. Social media pages. Yes.

Okay. Um and I think this this came about because there was a press release and and you know, everybody loves a press release. It brings more attention to new businesses. But what concerned me a little bit was looking like we're playing favorites. And I and I think if we are going to do a press release for something outside of very specific newsworthy information that it there should be some criteria to that. Um and I think if we were going to, for example, now on the the Door Dash thing, I would not be opposed to that if it's a list of agenda items, but when it's singled out specifically, that's that's where it got a little confusing for me. Um, I just I feel like that if we're going to do some sort of announcement for new businesses, it should be across the board. That's where the veteran Brentwood comes from. If we're going to do press releases that are newspecific, maybe there's a different format, maybe they go out to a different distribution list. I just feel like this is something we need to get cleared up um, moving forward.

Well, and and I mean, let's be honest about it. The businesses have come to us and they do feel like there's favorites being played. So, I think that we need to make sure that the playing field is level for everyone.

And if it does look like there is some sort of announcement for a new business that comes out, I'm fine with that. I just think we we just need to be clear on press release news versus something else because I don't I also don't want to get to the point where we're doing so many press releases that, you know, it's like a way that cried wolf kind of thing and people aren't paying as much attention if things get overdiluted. So, I'd just like to have the conversation. Are there any questions on this? Okay. Uh, moving into public comments, please.

At this time, the public is permitted to address the city council on this agenda item. If you're participating via Zoom, please please raise your hand to speak. If you're in person, please file a speaker card. Your microphone will be muted if you speak on items that do not pertain to this agenda item or after the timer has expired. I have we didn't receive any written public comments in advance of the meeting. I have no in-person speaker cards or hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. Any discussion? Have any questions? She's okay. Um do we have a motion?

Do you want to make it? Never get to make motion. Uh, let's see. I move that staff spend time and resources to explore some um criteria and direction around press releases and posts on um city pages versus veteran Brentwood pages, social media and website. And I'll second that. We get a roll call, please. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm Malone. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orllo. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. And the motion passes. Thank you. And we need one more motion. I'll make a motion to the meeting.

Second. Oh, I'm sorry. Did you say second? Do we adjourn? Actually, we're not adjourning as much as we are. Uh what is the word? There's it's not we are adjourning. The close or the next meeting is separately agendaized. So Oh, it is. Okay. Great. So then can we have a roll call vote on that? Vote on that please. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson. Yes. And I'm alone. Council member Mendoza. Yes. Council member Orleans. Yes. Mayor Meyer. Yes. Thank you. We're going to move into a special council meeting at this point.

We do need to call the special meeting to order and then open public comments. And then we lost what? Oh, she may have gone over to the Zoom session and that's fine. We do have a quorum present.

Okay. Um we are now entering into our special our second special council meeting of the evening. We have a quorum and we can begin with a roll call please. Council member Maloney present. Vice Mayor Pearson is absent. Council member Mendoza here. Council member Orleans here. Mayor Meyer here. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance.

I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The public comment time for tonight's items will be two minutes each. In order to ensure that all speakers feel welcome to share their views, members of the audience are kindly requested to refrain from applauding or speaking to the council from the audience without being called upon first.

At this time, members of the public are permitted to address the city council on items listed on the special meeting agenda. If you would like to speak speak, please file a speaker card. And I have no speaker cards requested in person or hands raised in Zoom. Thank you. I'd like to um in a moment get a motion to recess to close session. I'd also like to announce that we are going to adjourn from close session, not come back into chambers. So, can we get a a motion to recess, please? So moved. Second. And a roll call. Council member Maloney. Yes. Vice Mayor Pearson is absent. Council member Mendoza. Council member Orleans. Yes. Mayor Meyer.

Yes. We are now in recess to close session. Thank you everyone.